Lancashire firm scoops two national awards in two weeks for pothole repair innovations

Potholes are a pest for road users, residents and the local authorities which are tasked to prevent and repair our deteriorating highways network, but a local firm may have the answer.

Darwen based Multevo have recently gained national recognition by the Department for Transport (DfT) and Local Council Roads Innovation Group (LCRIG) at the DfT Special Recognition Awards and Highways Awards in the space of just two weeks.

The locally established and community-focussed contractor, Multevo, were awarded two prestigious awards at two different sector specific awards ceremonies because of their collaboration with Shropshire Council which has helped to fix potholes permanently, reduced repeat visits, disruption and cost.

Last week, Shropshire Council and Multevo were awarded the DfT Special Recognition Collaborative Partnership Award in a highly contested category with 22 submissions representing 123 organisations.

The week before, the company also won the Highways Award for Team of the Year at the Highways Awards, beating off competition from National Highways, WSP, Metropolitans Police - plus Westminster Council who were nominated for their work around the King’s Coronation.

Both awards were as a result of the company’s impressive partnership performance whilst working directly with Shopshire Council.

Multevo’s turnkey solution for potholes, defect, patch repairs and small surfacing works has enabled the council to save £1.4m per annum which is a 75% reduction in the cost of pothole repairs.

A focus on fix-first-time methodologies has shifted the network from 90% temporary repairs to 90% permanent whilst also reducing the number of outstanding potholes from 8,567 to 2,122 through more efficient planning and high-quality workmanship eradicating the need for repeat visits.

The reduction in repeat visits and quality fix-first-time repairs has also significantly reduced disruption for residents and road users which has resulted in a 25% increase in satisfaction according to the NHTPSS.

The collaborative partnership has revolutionised road maintenance in Shopshire demonstrating exceptional innovation and collaboration whilst exemplifying the potential benefits to the wider sector.

The judges said:

"We were really impressed with the winner who provided very detailed insights into their partnership impact… by providing evidence of collaborative decision-making, impressive analysis of the collaborative relationship and what it is achieving to ensure impact is achieved across a range of areas including, safety, efficiency, productivity, whilst also scaling their work to impressive levels that might be expected from much larger organisations and partnerships."

Multevo are a local success story, starting from scratch in an office space above Hoddlesden Village Store in 2010 to now employing over 340 people across the UK.

The company is a one-stop-shop contractor that reliably self-delivers services differently across highways, civils and groundworks, arboriculture, vegetation and traffic management as well as providing plant and commercial vehicle support.

Josh Sweeney, director of marketing and growth at Multevo, said: “There is no higher accolade than the DfT Special Recognition Awards for us and so winning the highly contented Collaborative Partnership Award is a very proud moment for everyone at Multevo and Shropshire Council.

"The entire Shropshire team have now been rightly recognised for all of their hard work, in a short space of time, in two separate national sector awards so credit where it is due, the industry is taking notice. Well done team Shropshire!”

The award-winning business has grown substantially in recent years, particularly across the Midlands and South, with a solid track record in health, safety and quality whilst embracing innovation to deliver better outcomes for customers and communities.

The Lancashire based firm have stuck to their roots and were the first business to commit as a gold patron to support the founding of Darwen Youth Zone and have continued to pledge support for the last three years.

In addition, Multevo advocates keeping people active by sponsoring boys and girls’ children’s football teams across the Lancashire including Blackburn with Darwen Town team, Darwen FC and most notably are back of shirt sponsors for Blackburn Rovers.