Costain secures three-year extension to United Utilities maintenance partnership

Costain will continue supporting the maintenance and resilience of water infrastructure across North West England after securing a three-year extension to its long-running managed services agreement with United Utilities.

The contract extension takes the partnership to its full 10-year duration, with Costain remaining responsible for managing and delivering a wide-ranging programme of capital maintenance works across United Utilities' water, wastewater and bioresources assets.

Industry analysts at Panmure Liberum estimate the agreement is worth around £200 million.

Originally appointed in 2019, Costain is expected to play a central role in delivering United Utilities' AMP8 investment programme, providing both planned capital maintenance and a 24-hour reactive service across the utility company's operational sites.

The framework covers the delivery of a high volume of maintenance projects designed to improve network resilience, optimise existing infrastructure and support reliable water and wastewater services throughout the region.

Matt Bateman, Water Sector Director at Costain, said the extension reflected the strength of the long-standing relationship between the two organisations.

"We're a long-term, trusted partner to United Utilities and this latest extension is testament to our track record of delivering predictably and consistently.

"Across the North West of England, we're working closely with United Utilities and our local supply chain partners to build critical resilience into the region's water and wastewater infrastructure. We're continuing to achieve performance enhancing results by optimising existing assets and integrating engineering knowledge, innovation and best practice while maintaining the highest standards of safety and quality."

Since the partnership began, Costain's team of more than 120 engineers and technical professionals has delivered over 900 capital maintenance schemes alongside approximately 9,000 reactive maintenance activities.

The company says its work has also helped United Utilities achieve more than 160 regulatory commitments ahead of schedule, while maintaining strong health, safety and environmental performance throughout the framework.

United Utilities Commercial Director John Welch said the extension would help maintain momentum as the business embarks on its largest investment programme to date.

"We are pleased to cement our relationship with Costain as they support us in delivering our most ambitious programme yet.

"Putting this partnership in place enables us to continue working at pace across the North West to deliver the transformation that we know our customers want to see."

The renewed agreement strengthens Costain's position within the UK water sector as utilities accelerate investment through the AMP8 regulatory period to improve resilience, environmental performance and customer service.