Businesses invited to learn about £2bn roads project

Local firms interested in working with contractor Amey and Sheffield Council in the delivery of the project are invited to the “Meet the Buyer” event, to take place at Sheffield United’s football ground from 1pm on Friday, May 25.

The event is designed to allow businesses to find out about supplier opportunities.

Hosted in association with Sheffield Chamber of Commerce, the event is also now open for businesses to pre-register their attendance online via the chamber’s website.

Daniel Pitcher, head of procurement at Amey, said: “Since the announcement was made and we were selected as the contractor to transform the city’s highway network, we’ve been inundated with requests from local businesses interested in working with us. It’s great to see this level of local support for the project.

“We’ve made a commitment to use local suppliers where possible as part of our strategy to support sustainable business across the city.

“Such a comprehensive project demands a huge amount of resource and some of that work is very specialist given the nature of the industry we work in.

“However, there are plenty of other potential opportunities for local businesses to become part of the project.”

From this August, Amey will set about bringing the city’s roads, pavements and street furniture up to standard over the next five years. That standard will then be maintained for the remaining 20 years of the contract.

Sheffield Council’s cabinet member for environment, recycling and streetscene, Coun Jack Scott, said: “This project is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us to upgrade Sheffield’s highways network.

“This is an exciting part of the overall regeneration of the city and will make a huge difference to citizens and businesses. These much-needed improvements into our highway network will enable us to attract vital new investment into the city and improve our economy.

“We are delighted that Amey have also committed to creating new 170 local jobs as part of this project.”