Liverpool City Council looking for ₤280M Highways Tender

LIVERPOOL City Council is looking for contractors to work on a 4 year highways framework worth up to ₤280 million.  The framework; 1 of 4 bespoke platforms the Council is creating to invest in roads and new homes; is divided into 3 lots with projects ranging from ₤250,000 to ₤12m for planned highways works including patching and potholes, ground investigation, piling, remedial works, trail pits, bridges and tunnels.

There will be 12 places in total on the framework, across the 3 lots, with up to 24 suppliers invited to tender, after the Mayor of Liverpool announced a new phase of highways investment in the summer. Interested parties must complete the Selection Questionnaire by Wednesday, 17 October 2018; which can be found at the Pro Contract website, which is free for businesses to sign up to.

The new roads frameworks have been designed specifically for the City Council to deliver its Better Roads programme; with a focus on enabling Liverpool and Merseyside based contractors the opportunity to pitch for Council contracts, bolstering the local supply chain.  Further procurement frameworks are also being designed to assist Foundations; the new ethical housing company established by the Council to create 10,000 new homes and to refurbish dilapidated housing stock in the City. Foundations will also be given stiff targets to bolster apprenticeships in the Region's construction sector. The frameworks can also can be utilised by other local bodies to contract works.

Liverpool City Council is currently overseeing 185 on site development schemes worth a record ₤3bn, including the Council's own ₤1bn Paddington Village scheme and new cruise liner facility, and the Mayor of Liverpool has said the authority's focus must be on taking a more pro active role in stimulating the City's economy. Mayor Anderson added:- "Liverpool's roads are in need of a dramatic overhaul. Collective appeals to Government have largely fallen on deaf ears so we need to try something new and radical which tackles this issue and at the same time has a positive impact on the local economy. The funding for the roads is in place and Foundations has now been established so the time has now come to fine tune the plans and start delivering. To do this, and to make it easier for Liverpool companies to navigate our tendering process, the Council's procurement team has created our 1st bespoke frameworks. This a watershed moment for the Council and symbolises the effort and commitment the entire organisation is undertaking to change the way we operate to be more business friendly so together the public and private sector can make a real difference to the future of the City."

The Better Roads programme, which began in 2014, has seen over 100 roads upgraded so far including the recent completion of a ₤1.6m upgrade to Park Lane, as part of creating a continuous cycle route, running from Toxteth to the Baltic Triangle, connecting to Otterspool, the ongoing construction of a new dual carriageway to benefit the development of the City's North docks with the contract for a link road for the Isle of Man Ferry Terminal.

Annual golf day raises ₤11,000 for brain injury survivors

A golf day organised by Fletchers Solicitors raised an incredible ₤11,000 for Headway Preston and Chorley. The annual event, which was held at Hesketh Golf Club, was organised by the Southport based solicitors to raise money for the brain injury charity. More than 60 people from local and national businesses took part in the golf day to raise funds and awareness of Headway, which provides support for people who have suffered a head or brain injury. Money raised from the event will be used to fund the Headway services and ensure that head injury sufferers continue to receive the necessary support needed after discharge from Hospital. The sun shone for all the participants who started the day with breakfast in the clubhouse before setting off on the Championship course.

₤500 was raised before the participants even teed off through closest to the pin and longest drive entries. The fundraising was boosted further when a skilful golfer scored a hole in one. Instead of buying the traditional round for everyone in the clubhouse, the generous golfer made a donation to Headway. Rob Fletcher, Chairman of Fletchers Solicitors, said:- "We are so grateful to everyone who came along to the golf day and helped us raise such a fantastic amount for Headway. It was a very enjoyable day and we are delighted that it raised ₤11,000 for such a deserving charity. Headway is a charity that we are very proud to support because of the incredible work that they do for people with brain injuries. Thank you to Hesketh Golf Club for their Hospitality and the fantastic links course."

Headway Preston and Chorley is a brain injury charity that provides a range of support to meet the needs of people with an acquired brain injury, their families and carers. Sarah Charnley, Court of Protection Solicitor at Fletchers Solicitors, is Chairman and Director of Headway Preston and Chorley. Sarah said:- "The golf day was such a great event and we were so pleased with the amount of people who got involved and showed their support for Headway. They do such important work to help people affected by brain injury and thanks to the support of Fletchers and everyone who took part, they can continue to offer their services to the
community."