Wednesday 10 February 2016

KIER GROUP PLC

Kier awarded £160m Surrey highways extension

and

 Secures positions on frameworks with a total value of up to £740m

Kier Group plc ("Kier"), the leading property, residential, construction and services group, confirms that Surrey County Council has approved proposals to deliver a substantial package of road maintenance services worth approximately £160m, as part of a four-year extension to the current contract that commenced in 2011.

The extension will run from April 2017 to March 2021 and the scope of work in the current contract, which includes highways maintenance and improvements, will be expanded to develop a Surrey Highways skill centre to provide a range of training and apprenticeship opportunities. The contract was originally awarded to May Gurney and transferred to Kier following its acquisition of the company in July 2013. Its award reflects the strength of the Group's highways capabilities following the Mouchel acquisition.

The Group's position on strategic frameworks has also been strengthened as a result of the following developments:

·    the award of over £100m of education building contracts across the country under the EFA contractor and regional frameworks;

·    securing a position on the four-year West Yorkshire YORbuild 2 Contractors Framework which has  a potential total value of £400m;

·     securing a position on the Essex Construction Framework Lot 2 covering schemes of £2m and above, which has a potential total value of £240m; and

·   securing a position on the next phase of the South West Wales Framework with Kier being awarded four lots, ranging in value from £3.5m to £15m in the east of the region and from £7.5m to £15m in the west, with a further lot of £15m and above spanning the whole region. 

Haydn Mursell, Kier's chief executive, commented: "Kier has forged a strong working relationship with Surrey Country Council over the past five years. This contract reinforces Kier's presence in the local authority market and further demonstrates the benefits of recent acquisitions, which have strengthened the Group's highways services and maintenance offering and helped to establish Kier as the market leader in this sector. These awards further underpin the strength of the combined Construction and Services order book which currently stands at approximately £9bn."

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Contacts:

Faeth Birch/Daniela Fleischmann (Finsbury):                    +44 (0) 20 7251 3801

Kier press office:                                                            +44 (0) 1767 355 903 / +44 (0) 7791 719452