Last updated October 22nd 2022
Amey UK Plc
Amey is a major provider of services to the public and regulated sectors with significant businesses in transport and infrastructure.
In October 2022, the Amey Group was sold by its Spanish parent company Ferrovial for £400 million to two private equity firms,US-based One Equity Partners and a London firm Buckthorn Partners. The Amey businesses moving into new ownership – which excluded Amey’s UK waste operation retained by Ferrovial – had revenues of £1.4 billion and employ 11,000 people.
Based in Oxford, Amey works across the UK through three divisions Transport Infrastructure (covering rail, highways and waste collections), Secure Infrastructure (facilities management, defence and justice) and Consulting Services.
Key services which the company provides include consulting, highways infrastructure, waste management, rail infrastructure, transport services, property and facilities management, aviation services, asset management, justice services, street cleansing, defence services and schools management. The firm works with more than 16 local authorities, including Sheffield and Staffordshire and clients include Highways England, United Utilities, Network Rail, the MoD, the MoJ, Metropolitan Transport Authority in New York and Australia’s Roads and Maritime Services.
In early 2020, Amanda Fisher was appointed as CEO; she was previously MD of Amey”s facilities management, defence and justice business and has held posts with other majors in the sector such as Balfour Beatty and Alfred McAlpine.
In early autumn 2022, Amey’s transport infrastructure business said it had secured over £500m of new work so far in 2022, increasing its forward order book to £4.1bn and which included a new highways maintenance contract with Transport Scotland.
At the time of Amey’s sale Nicholas Gee, founding partner of new joint-owner Buckthorn Partners, said: “Amey is at the heart of developing innovative routes to delivering the UK’s infrastructure needs. Amey’s consulting and engineering services are essential to expedite the energy transition by improving the performance of transport and building infrastructure.”
Financials
To view the financials for Amey UK plc go to Companies House and use Company ID 04736639
Results for the Amey business which was sold to private equity owners in October 2022 by Ferrovial showed the business – which excluded a waste treatment business remaining with Ferrovial – had revenues of £1.386 billion in 2021 and produced underlying earnings (ebitda) of £43 million. The business, which was sold for £400 million, also had a work backlog worth £6.133 billion.
Consulting
Amey Consulting is a leading engineering consultancy, employing over 1900 consultants, engineers and designers and as well as consultancy & design, it is a leader in applying data science and analytics in the infrastructure sector. The division reported revenues of £120 million in 2020 and it had a high ‘win’ rate, securing new business worth £161 million.
The business works widely with the Highways Agency and recently won a £45 million bid as design partner on the A66 Northern TransPennine upgrade; in rail it has also won a £22 million contract from Network Rail on sections of the TransPennine upgrade.
In summer 2022, Amey Consulting was appointed to the South Wales Trunk Road Agent Consultancy Services Framework to provide design and consultancy services for the motorway and trunk road network, covering 436 km of trunk road and 178 km of motorway, over the next four years.
Transport Infrastructure
Amey”s transport infrastructure business works widely with Highways England, Transport NI and Transport Scotland and for the rail sector. In 2020, it reported operating revenues of £812.3 million and an operating loss of £38.4 million.
Led by managing director Peter Anderson, Amey’s transport infrastructure business secured over £500m of new work in 2022 by the autumn with both existing and new clients, increasing its forward order book to £4.1bn and prompting it to recruit widely.
Amey also recently secured a new highways maintenance contract with Transport Scotland to manage the motorways, trunk roads, bridges and structures across north east Scotland for the next 8 years under a £540 million contract. It adds to the firm’s existing contracts in south west Scotland and on the 30-year Scottish Roads Partnership.Under a £400m contract running for at least eight years from August 2020, Amey will maintain and improve the motorways and trunk roads across the south west region for Transport Scotland
On highways, Amey recently started work on the A533 Expressway for National Highways. In late 2020, Amey was awarded the £180m Area 12 Maintenance and Response contract by Highways England; an eight-year contract worth £22.5m per annum across Yorkshire and Humberside. Other contracts include a £325 million, 15 year Highways England maintenance and response contract for Area 10 in the North West.
Amey also operates a maintenance & response contract for Area 7 for Highways England worth up to £300 million over 15 years on routes from Northants to Lincs. It also maintains stretches of the M1, M69, M45 and M6.
In rail, Amey has recently completed a new depot at Taffs Well Depot to service the South Wales Metro for Transport for Wales and it operates various light rail franchises. The company is also undertaking increased asset inspections and area surveys. Meanwhile, Amey, is part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade team and recently won extra work upgrading the route between Manchester and Leeds.
Amey works widely with local authorities across the country, including Kent County Council and is upgrading over 23,000 street lights in Walsall having recently upgraded 55,000 street lights in Edinburgh. It has also secured major lighting upgrade contracts with Wakefield and Bradford.
Secure Infrastructure
Amey Secure Infrastructure is a major player in facilities and estate management.
The business delivers and maintains infrastructure, assets and services to key public sector clients, notably the Ministries of Justice and Defence. Revenues rose to £1,138 million in 2020 and at end-2020, the division”s order book stood at £2.6 billion.
In early summer 2022, Amey Secure Infrastructure was named as a supplier on the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) Facilities Management & Workplace Services framework; it won on six lots, enabling it to tender for public sector contracts on services such as workplace facilities management, maintenance, security, and cleaning.
In defence, the division maintain 25,000 military homes across the north and central regions, looks after US visiting forces and provides plant and equipment for the military. In late 2019, Amey won a Defence Infrastructure Organisation contract to deliver FM and project work at five United States Visiting Forces locations; at RAF Alconbury, Molesworth, Croughton, Fairford and other smaller sites together with the management of around 250 service family homes.
On justice, Amey manages 61 sites for His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service across the North East, North West, East, West Midlands and Wales and a operates a major planned and reactive maintenance programme.
Glenigan Data
Figures from Glenigan highlight the scale of the projects where Amey is currently involved. It shows that Amey is a civils consulting engineer on the £1.3 billion A66 Northern TransPennine motorway dualling project where work is due to start in late 2023 and run for 36 months (Project ID: 17343745). Meanwhile, Amey is a consulting engineer on the £29.6 million A28 Sturry Link Road for Kent County Council where works are due to start in autumn 2023 (Project ID: 17229903).
Conclusion: Diversity should ensure it rides out business cycles
Like all public service providers, Amey has faced tougher times in recent years as its public sector and other clients have been forced to bear down on costs. Pressure on margins is likely to continue. Yet today, under its new private equity owners, the company remains one of the most diverse support services groups in the UK with an asset management and consulting capability across a range of sectors that should ensure it prospers in the long run. After a divisional restructuring under CEO Amanda Fisher, the group has been bolstered by a series of key contract wins particularly in roads and rail and should benefit from the government”s emphasis on infrastructure spending post-Covid.
Winning work with Amey UK
Details of Amey”s approach to recruitment, health & safety, governance and its ”committing to excellence” initiative can be found at its website at www.amey.co.uk. In May 2022, Amey hosted a ‘Working together in Suffolk’ event for over 80 local East Anglian suppliers and hosted by account director Nick Powell.
Contacts:
Mike Lindsay Head of Procurement
Email: mike.lindsay@amey.co.uk
Tel: 01865 713100