Highways England, in partnership with the Supply Chain School have launched a sustainability support programme to accelerate learning, knowledge and performance improvement across its Regional Delivery Partnership (RDP) Framework.

This initiative will provide free training and skills development for over 300 suppliers and sub-contractors working with Highways England’s Delivery Integration Partners (DIPs) to deliver road improvement schemes over a 5 year period.

The programme is being funded by a collaboration among several prime contractors, all of whom recognise the importance of their supply chain in meeting sustainability targets: Balfour Beatty, Bam Nuttall, Costain, Galliford Try, Graham, NMCN, Kier, Skanska, Osborne, Vinci and VolkerFitzpatrick are all actively involved.

Targeted training will be provided through the Supply Chain School to build competency and measurable impact in areas such as Carbon, Waste Management, Air Quality, Fairness/Inclusion/Respect, Social Value, Staff Wellbeing and Business Ethics. Sustainability performance at project and overall programme level will be monitored using an online tool, accessible to all suppliers free of charge through the programme.

Malcolm Dare, Executive Director, Highways England addressed the Launch Event on 29 January and said:

“Our £27.4 billion investment during the second roads period will allow Highways England to continue our management and enhancement of the country’s strategic road network. This is a key artery for the country’s economy and contributes £314 billion to the UK economy, saving the country millions of hours currently lost in traffic congestion. We are ringfencing funds to improve the environmental, social and safety impact of the network – and this initiative is a perfect example of working in partnership with our key contractors and the wider supply chain to deliver tangible benefits in terms of skills, knowledge and overall sustainability performance. It forms part of our work on Supply Chain Development and we look forward to sharing the results of this initiative in due course.”

Shaun McCarthy, Chair of the Supply Chain School commented:

“Our mission is to build a world-class collaboration to drive sustainability skills and knowledge in the construction and infrastructure industries. We are delighted to support Highways England with content, expertise and our innovative sustainability tool to measure impact. We will be providing free workshops, supplier days and online learning pathways to enhance knowledge at individual and corporate levels. Typically, 80% of major project value is delivered by the supply chain, which demonstrates the importance of a partnership approach involving all companies involved in road improvement schemes, not just the major contractors who are leading the works.”

Andrew Spencer, Head of Procurement & Supply Chain (Highways), Skanska, spoke on behalf of the group of prime contractors working closely with Highways England to fund and help deliver the support programme:

Skanska is one of the world’s leading project development, construction and infrastructure groups. We are a founding Partner of the Supply Chain School so are particularly pleased to deliver this important support initiative for our many suppliers and sub-contractors. Our industry recognises that collaboration to address shared challenges is vital to successful delivery of major projects. By working together, Skanska and other leading contractors can standardise and deliver training at scale - generating best value for Highways England. Over the next few years we’ll be providing over 10,000 training interventions and 37,000 hours of CPD accredited learning. We encourage all of our highways suppliers to participate.

Suppliers and sub-contractors involved in the Highways England supply chain should access the free support programme by contacting Andrew Wilson at Supply Chain Sustainability School. Andrew.Wilson@supplychainschool.co.uk