Young people looking for a career in highways and unemployed operatives hoping to return to work will be invited to enroll at a new training academy this autumn provided by contractors on the London Highways Alliance contract.

Details of how the training academy will work are to be discussed today (Wednesday) at the first London Roads apprentice forum that brings together the alliance’s four contractors and Transport for London.

Steve Dennis from Transport for London’s roads directorate said: “Each contractor will take on a full time apprentice for every £3M equivalent of spend and the number recruited will increase in future years. Apprentices can either be young people looking to begin an engineering career or more mature candidates who have been out of work for a period of time.”

Successful candidates will be taught by former apprentices or recent graduates from the four contractors at a new London Highways Alliance training academy.

The four contractors on the London Highways Alliance are a Colas / Volker Highways / URS joint venture, which now looks after roadworks in a ‘Central’ zone; Enterprise Mouchel (which looks after South London); Conway AECOM (North West London) and Ringway Jacobs (North East London).

The new London Highways Alliance contract came into force in the capital in April. It covers 23 different disciplines including highway repair, winter maintenance and street lighting. Each London borough has the option to make use of the contract for some or all of its highway services – but not all do. Mr Dennis says six boroughs are currently involved in the contract and hopes half of all boroughs will sign up to the contract by this summer.

Transport for London said the Highways Alliance contract should save £450M over the eight years by reducing expensive tendering costs and making better use of resources.

Vehicles belonging to each contractor in the new highways arrangement and clothing worn by operatives do not feature company names, but simply mention the Alliance to promote the idea that everyone works together in a spirit of collaboration.

Each of the four contractors has been urged by Transport for London to pool resources where appropriate and work together to deal with unplanned incidents no matter where they occur within the capital, to ensure disruption for motorists is kept to a minimum.

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