A firm in Huddersfield has recaptured a national contract worth up to £34.5m.

The Highways Agency has reappointed vehicle incident management specialist FMG to the National Vehicle Recovery Manager (NVRM) contract.

It means FMG, which employs more than 340 people at its headquarters on St Andrew’s Road, will manage all incidents on England’s Strategic Road Network on behalf of the Highways Agency.

The contract covers 4,300 miles of motorways and significant A-roads.

Following a competitive tender process, FMG has been awarded a three-year contract which will run from this autumn with optional extensions for a further four years.

The contract will be worth £34.5m over the seven-year term.

FMG has managed the contract since the NVRM was inaugurated in 2008.

From its secure control centre, the company helps to monitor the road network and co-ordinates specialist recovery operators to remove broken down, damaged or abandoned vehicles, clear debris following traffic collisions, help passengers to safety and co-ordinate incident recovery to return traffic flow to normal.

In the five years FMG has worked on the contract the average response time stands at 33 minutes.

Philip Graham, FMG’s head of NVRM service, said: “By working with Highways Agency traffic officers, FMG co-ordinates a response and gets traffic moving as soon as is practicably safe.

“We’ve worked with a wide range of bodies, including the emergency services and our recovery network, to plan for every scenario, especially managing major incidents involving goods vehicles and their loads.

“This helps ensure there is the efficiency and expertise to deal with any challenges.”

On average, FMG deals with about 40 incidents a day and managed more than 48,000 incidents over the life of the last contract. These range from HGVs hitting bridges to multiple vehicle pile-ups and breakdowns in dangerous locations.

Commenting on FMG’s reappointment, chief executive officer John Catling said: “This is great news for FMG and road users at large.

John Catling, chief executive of FMG
John Catling, chief executive of FMG

“We look forward to working with the Highways Agency well into the future.”

He added: “They’ve shown their considerable confidence in us by awarding the contract for up to seven years and we’re more than ready to accept the challenge of delivering improvements and efficiencies across the Strategic Road Network.

“Along with the obvious human impact that incidents have, congestion costs individuals and businesses time and money.

“By working together with the appropriate bodies and agencies we can ensure that incidents are dealt with safely and quickly.

“This allows motorists to get back on the move as soon as possible, and helps to minimise the impact on UK plc.”