Blackpool’s £200m highways framework: seven appointed firms and the work-order route to watch

What happened

Blackpool Council has published the award of a highways works framework with stated values of £120m excluding VAT for surfacing and £80m excluding VAT for civil engineering. Its published dates run from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2030. These are framework values and dates, not a commitment to spend £200m or place a specified number of work orders.

There are four appointed firms on each lot, but seven different firms overall: Associated Asphalt Contracting is named on both. Lot 1 covers resurfacing and reconstruction using asphalt and concrete, together with associated items such as road markings, kerbs, drainage and barriers. Lot 2 spans highways civils including earthworks, drainage, small structures, footways, cycleways, junction works, traffic management features, street-lighting foundations and works around utility apparatus.

Blackpool is the contracting authority. The framework is also available to Lancashire County Council, Blackburn with Darwen Council, Lancashire Combined County Authority, and current and future members and associate members of the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA). Availability does not mean that each authority will use it for every highways job.

Does this affect you?

If your business delivers surfacing, kerbing, drainage, road markings, barriers, small structures or related highways work in the North West, the appointed firms are potential customers. The award notice does not identify their subcontract packages, supply-chain requirements or planned call-offs. Your first task is to establish which firms intend to buy your trade and how they invite quotations.

The notice describes two routes for work orders: the authority may ask one framework supplier for a quotation or seek quotations from more than one through secondary competition. That distinction affects the appointed firms’ workload forecasts and how quickly they may need prices from their own supply chains.

Subby Mate: if you are on the tools

The one thing: Check the two lists above and contact the firms that buy your type of work. Ask who handles their supply-chain enquiries for this framework, whether they intend to subcontract your trade, and what they need before inviting you to price.

• Send a short capability note with your trade, operating area, crew and plant capacity, relevant completed work and a reliable contact. Include insurance and competency information requested by that firm. A framework appointment is an opportunity to make contact, not a promise of work.
• Tell them the job sizes you can actually service. A £100,000 local package may suit a different crew and management setup from a £1m scheme, even though both can fall within a published lot’s typical work-order range.
• Keep a record of who replied and when they expect to procure. Follow up against a real opportunity rather than assuming every firm will issue enquiries immediately when the framework starts.

If you are a subcontractor QS

Map your prospective customers by trade and lot. Associated Asphalt is on both lists, so avoid counting the appointments as eight separate customer relationships. Identify the relevant estimator or buyer at each firm and confirm its subcontract onboarding process. The notice gives the framework suppliers; it does not create an approved second-tier list.

Ask how each package will be instructed and paid. Before quoting, establish the scope and drawings, order of precedence, method of measurement, programme, payment terms, retention, design duties and variation procedure in the proposed subcontract. Do not assume the council’s mechanism for awarding a work order also governs the contract between the appointed firm and you.

Price the utility interface you are actually being asked to manage. Lot 2 includes coordination around statutory undertakers’ apparatus and chambers. Seek available utility records and survey results, and establish who arranges permits, protection, diversions and access. State the information and programme assumptions underlying your price. If records prove wrong on site, record the location, condition, affected resources and impact, then follow your subcontract’s notice process. Ensure your tender qualifications are carried into the signed order.

Set a rate validity period. A framework can generate repeated enquiries over several years, but no subcontractor should assume today’s rate is suitable for work placed in 2029 or 2030. Define the location, quantities, working hours and programme behind your rates, along with any agreed review or indexation mechanism for later orders.

If you are a main contractor QS or commercial lead

Treat the framework as an opportunity, not booked revenue. The £120m and £80m figures are stated lot values shared across their appointed suppliers. Resource, plant and cash forecasts should be driven by received work orders and credible near-term enquiries. Review the conversion from enquiries to awards, and the margins on actual work, rather than dividing the headline value by four suppliers or four years.

Plan for both quotation routes. Some opportunities may involve a single supplier being asked to quote; others may involve secondary competition. Maintain current subcontractor availability and price intelligence so that you can respond to either route without assuming a steady monthly allocation of work.

Test second-tier prices for deliverability. Check the proposed crew, plant, supervision, productivity and programme behind a keen rate. Agree how later work orders will be priced and reviewed. The number of firms that bid for a framework place does not establish how many will seek subcontract work or how aggressively they will price it.

Do this week

1. If you want subcontract work: select the relevant appointed firms from the table, find the appropriate supply-chain contact and send a concise capability note. Ask for the procurement route and anticipated timing for your trade.
2. If you hold a framework place: build a live register of work-order enquiries, quotations, wins and forecast delivery capacity by lot. Keep the £200m framework value separate from secured workload.
3. Before pricing a package: confirm the subcontract terms, scope, measurements, utility interfaces and rate validity. Record assumptions in a form that can be incorporated into the final order.

Source: Adapted from publicly available construction industry news, analysed by QS-AI.