Property consultancy lands major water pipeline contract

A Midlands property consultancy has won a contract to act as land agents on what it says is one of the largest strategic water infrastructure projects the UK has ever seen.

Fisher German, which has offices in Stafford, Ashby and Market Harborough, has been selected as one of Anglian Water’s primary suppliers.

The firm will deliver land agency services to Anglian’s multi-billion pound Totex programme, a key element of which aims to deliver up to 500km of new and replacement pipeline throughout the Anglian Water region over the next seven years.

The new pipework will enable the water company to move water more freely around the region from areas of water surplus to the east of England where it is less readily available.

Fisher German will work with the construction and engineering firms from Anglian’s Strategic Pipeline Alliance laying the pipelines.

The firm will also work with the water company’s @One Alliance, made up of consultants, contractors, and other stakeholders, on substantial work planned in the maintenance and reinforcement of its distribution network and operational sites for water management and treatment.

The Anglian Water contact will be delivered by a project team of more than 20 people based across Fisher German’s Ashby, Market Harborough, Newark, Bedford, Canterbury, Banbury and Stafford offices.

George Simpson, partner and head of water at Fisher German, said: “We are extremely pleased to be selected as one of two primary suppliers for Anglian Water.

“They are very innovative in terms of the way that they work with their alliance partners and deliver services to their customers, so we are very excited to be working with them.

“We will be supporting their teams in laying the new and replacement pipeline as well as advising on a large number of other projects in the Anglian region.

“The project will be the largest water infrastructure programme seen for a generation and is a fantastic example of how Fisher German’s office network and broad range of expertise can service national contracts of this size.

“We will be using a collaborative approach, working closely with partners, stakeholders and Anglian Water customers, to help deliver what is a hugely important infrastructure project which will secure water supplies to the east of England for future generations.”

Strategic pipeline alliance director James Crompton said: “This scheme marks the first stage of one of the largest strategic infrastructure programmes the UK has seen since the major gas pipeline installations in Wales during the 1990s.

“The challenges of population growth and a changing climate are felt nowhere more keenly than here in the East of England.

“Starting this programme is a significant part of our planned investment in the region over the next five years, which will begin to tackle those challenges and secure customer supplies well into the future.”