A recent UK Highways/FiTZ INDEX survey has revealed that the majority of respondents (54.3%) disagreed or strongly disagreed that ‘procurement in the highways sector is fair for non-Tier One suppliers and for new entrants.’ It paints a worrying picture of the nature of procurement in the sector especially with regard to innovation, shared risk, new entrants and support for SMEs. Also of concern is that a third of respondents rated the way procurement meets the needs of the sector as ‘poor.’ The survey highlights some suggestions by respondents on ways to improve the situation, notably: better data and transparency, remodelling the imbalanced risk/reward model, tackling the lack of skills, and more clarity over desired outcomes in the public sector. Read more on the survey and respondents’ views here on Highways.
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