Yorkshire Water has awarded contracts to Morrison Utility Services and Network Plus for its clean water network repair and maintenance services as part of its new Water Services Partnership.
The contracts will be divided into five separate brackets, which the company said will drive innovation, competition, improve customer service and to help meet its efficiency targets.
Previously Yorkshire had used just one contractor for its network repairs and maintenance but has now divided its region with MUS taking the east and Network Plus covering the west as well as delivering developer services across the whole region.
The contracts will run for four years from July and include an option to extend by a further four years. Over the eight-year period the contracts have a combined value of £553 million.
Neil Dewis, director of water at Yorkshire, said: “The new contracts will create a competitive, dynamic, and resilient service that rewards exceptional performance, nurtures innovation, and supports us in delivering against our AMP7 performance commitments.
“The new Water Services Partnership will allow us to improve on many levels. In the longer term it will help us to drive more innovation in the industry, and in the shorter term it will allow us to continuously improve service for our customers and for Yorkshire as a whole.”
Last week the company received a verdict from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) that allowed additional spending on totex and infrastructure schemes that had not been approved by Ofwat. The appeals body said information that had not been available to the water regulator had influenced its decision.