Wragge & Co LLP Construction & Engineering team has advised Tarmac on a highways term maintenance contract with Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council worth approximately £30 million. Under the contract, Tarmac will maintain and improve the borough's roads for the next four years.

Tarmac's National Contracting division will deliver an integrated programme, including road surfacing, winter maintenance, 24-hour highways-related emergencies, footpath reconstruction, sign manufacturing, gully cleaning and reactive works such as pothole repairs. The contract will start in May 2009 and run until May 2013, with an option for two-year extensions.

Construction & engineering partner Paul Green led the Wragge & Co team with assistance from solicitor Ben Weston. A cross-firm team including Nicholas Foulkes, Simon Chappel, Clare Woolley, Paul Carberry, Jennifer Naylor, Edward Sunderland and Kazi Rahman advised on projects, commercial, pensions and banking and finance issues. The team worked alongside John Bradshaw, corporate commercial solicitor and Nick Angelo, general commercial manager at Tarmac.

Paul Green said: "This project required pragmatic advice and the ability to navigate complex contractual issues. We brought together specialists from across the firm to help create the best conditions for the successful delivery of this contract. Tarmac has a strong track record in the highways sector and we look forward to working with it on future projects."

Nick Angelou said: "Wragge & Co came onboard at very short notice, made the right people available and worked with us and our client to finalise the contract within an exceedingly tight timescale. Without their expertise we would have potentially suffered a significant slippage to the contract."

Tarmac is a UK-based supplier of heavy building materials, specialising in asphalt surfacing, civil engineering, road planing, traffic management, highways safety fencing, signing and lighting. Wragge & Co has an existing relationship with the client.

Walsall MBC is located in the West Midlands. Tarmac has been working closely with Walsall MBC on highways improvements for the last six years. Katie Lote, Mark Hammerton, Gareth Bownes and Anne Harris at Eversheds LLP advised Walsall MBC.

Wragge & Co's 40-strong Construction & Engineering team boasts relationships with some of the industry's most significant players. In addition to technical quality and skill, backgrounds in the construction industry, including former architects, chartered surveyors and engineers, mean the team also boasts a commercial approach. Clients include developers, employers, funds, end users and contractors. Significant experience includes advising E.ON on a 60-turbine, 180-megawatt and £325 million offshore wind farm.

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For further information about this press release, contact Kathryn Hobbs on +44 (0)121 685 2785, Amie Ryalls on +44 (0)121 685 2708 or Rebecca Mee on +44 (0)121 685 3819

This press release may contain information of general interest about current legal issues, but does not give legal advice.