Skip to main content

Private sector could reduce UK's road repairs cost

Private sector companies in the UK are preparing to aid local authorities deal with the effects of government spending cuts on roads. Mike Notman, outgoing chairman of the UK's top trade body for road maintenance, Highways Term Maintenance Association (HTMA), has warned that repairs and improvements to the nation's roads is an easy target for the coalition government, and claimed that private sector companies could reduce costs by as much as 15%.
May 14, 2012 Read time: 1 min
Private sector companies in the UK are preparing to aid local authorities deal with the effects of government spending cuts on roads.

Mike Notman, outgoing chairman of the UK's top trade body for road maintenance, 2479 Highways Term Maintenance Association (HTMA), has warned that repairs and improvements to the nation's roads is an easy target for the coalition government, and claimed that private sector companies could reduce costs by as much as 15%.

“Private sector companies undertake these services across the UK and therefore have much greater knowledge and experience of delivery,” he said.

Incoming chairman Philip Hoare has vowed to “develop stronger, productive and results-orientated outcomes across the sector” despite the pressures of government spending cuts.

He committed the organisation to further improving the quality of highways management and maintenance in a bid to reinforce the message that reliable and safe roads are paramount to the social and economic needs of the nation.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Ethiopia races on with projects
    June 13, 2012
    Ethiopia is pursuing a 10-year $2.4 billion development plan, part of which are ambitious road developments. Shem Oirere reports Ethiopia is hastening its pace towards accessing a share of the East Africa commodity market and opening itself up for foreign investment through the implementation of an ambitious road development strategy, the Road Sector Development Programme (RSDP). The landlocked nation has convinced a number of international lenders of the viability of RSDP, with some of them now loosening
  • Portugal's road safety initiative
    April 12, 2012
    The Portuguese experience with road safety has proved that planning, development, introduction, and hard work do pay off in the end. Paulo Marques Augusto, president of the National Road Safety Authority (ANSR), explained that in the last 10 years a decrease of over 50% has been achieved in the number of fatalities on the road network despite a continuing growth in traffic demand (there are five million vehicles in Portugal), and a similar reduction in travel time on most of the connections between Lisbon a
  • Barrier innovations making roads safer
    February 21, 2013
    Developments in barrier technology continue to make roads safer for drivers - Mike Woof writes. Innovative new barrier technology is helping make roads safer for drivers. Key developments have been made in barrier design, helping ensure road and highway infrastructure is more passively safe. New barrier designs ensure that errant vehicles are redirected into the roadway, with reduced risks for occupants and also other road users. Continuously slipformed concrete barriers reinforced with steel are now widely
  • Highway PPPs: IRF bridges global knowledge gap for industry
    June 22, 2020
    As governments around the world assess the best way to jump-start their economies, attention will inevitably turn to the role of road infrastructure development, and the associated financing mechanisms.