Contractor appointed for £230m lighting mission

A £230m 25-year contract to illuminate the city of Coventry has been finalised with work set to commence in November.

After previously being announced as preferred bidder in February, Connect Roads Coventry Limited has now been confirmed as the contractor to deliver the PFI.

Connect Roads Coventry is a special purpose vehicle owned by Balfour Beatty.

The contract involves replacing 28,000 streetlights, 4,200 lit traffic signs and 1,500 illuminated bollards across Coventry over five years.

Following this, the contractor will continue with on-going maintenance of existing and equipment over a 25-year period in total.

The authority said that the whole of the city would benefit from the latest street lighting technology aimed at delivering year-on year savings in energy costs and carbon emissions, totalling a 38% saving after five years.

Balfour Beatty has also secured a permanent depot in the city where former employees of the city council together with additional new staff will be employed.

City services chief Cllr Lindsley Harvard said: “I am delighted that we have finalised the contract and that we have managed to secure a better deal for the citizens of Coventry.

“The new street lighting will be the envy of other cities and will help improve the environment and make the city safer at night. “We’ll be using state-of-the-art lighting systems that will provide us with significant savings on our energy bills.”

Funding of approximately £60m will be provided equally by Barclays Corporate and Norddeutsche Landesbank while Balfour Beatty will input  £6.3m of equity.

Law firm Eversheds advised both Barclays and Norddeutsche Landesbank with the team led by projects partner Jonathan Cripps with associates Lucy Plowright and William Lewis. PwC, McClure Naismith and Atkins advised the city council.