Delivering Cost Efficiency On A Regional Maintenance Framework

The Problem

When our clients in-house commercial lead departed, we were approached to supply a Commercial Manager to provide interim leadership for a major regional highway’s maintenance and renewals programme. The primary challenge was to deliver a £37M annual works programme within a reduced, fixed budget of £27.4M, with future budget increases capped at just 2% annually until 2025.

Our Approach

Recognising that no single initiative could achieve the required savings our team conducted a comprehensive commercial review and applied a data-led strategy to identify multiple efficiency opportunities across the contract which enabled budgetary constraints to be met without compromising service delivery or public safety.

Key Initiatives & Savings

1. Surfacing Quotation Reviews – Savings: £3.25M
   A forensic review of contractor pricing revealed significant overestimates, typically reducing costs by approximately 50%.
2. Attend & Assess Necessity – Savings £1.2M
   Given most RTA repair works can be communicated verbally, previously routine ‘attend and asses’ visits were reduced from over 400 to 6 annually based upon necessity rather than an automatic standard requirement. This not only reduced costs but improved repair timescales due to earlier identification requirements.
3. Soft Estate Maintenance Optimisation – Savings: £800K
   Adjusted mowing frequencies in low-visibility areas halved costs while improving environmental outcomes.
4. Refurbishment of Salt Saturation Units – Savings: £600K
   Reinstating wet salt facilities decreased salt usage by circa one-third during winter operations.
5. Shared Traffic Management – Savings: £1.5M
   Improved scheduling across frameworks allowed shared traffic control setups which reduced duplication by enabling concurrent working. 
6. Enhanced Third-Party Damage Recovery – Savings: £500K
   Better data collection and CCTV usage boosted cost recovery from third-party incidents.

RESULTS

Combined these initial measures saved circa £7.85M with subsequent highlighted secondary efficiencies successfully bringing the original £37M Programme within £27.4M Budget without jeopardising service standards or public safety.    

Forward Outlook
With additional new roads being incorporated into the network area next year, and no funding increase, continued commercial rigor and innovation will be essential to maintain. required standards within budget restrictions.

Conclusion
This case study demonstrates how Adeo’s commercial leadership and strategic analysis deliver tangible value by turning financial pressures into improved opportunities, empowering clients to achieve best-value—without compromising on quality or safety.