Balfour Beatty Living Places was originally chosen in December 2012 but was dropped after detailed negotiations broke down.
As one of the five original shortlisted bidders, May Gurney/WSP was then brought back into contention, along with Amey, Carillion/Mott MacDonald and Enterprise Mouchel.
The contract, which is scheduled to start on 1 October 2013, covers the design and delivery of maintenance and improvement works across Suffolk's 6,500km highways network. This includes surfacing, winter gritting, emergency response to incidents on the network, street lighting and traffic signals maintenance, materials testing, road condition surveys, laboratory services, vehicle maintenance and bridge works.
The contract is valued at up to £200m over five years, with the possibility of an extension to 10 years. The award is subject to approval by the county council's cabinet next week.
May Gurney chairman Margaret Ford said: "We are delighted that May Gurney/MGWSP has been chosen as preferred bidder by Suffolk County Council for the highways services contract, which consolidates our position as a leading provider of essential front-line services to more than 80 local authorities across the UK.
“May Gurney already has a significant presence in East Anglia – the company was founded in Norfolk in 1926. This unique heritage and extensive operational footprint, combined with MGWSP's proven track record of delivering fresh ideas and better ways of working for our other clients, means that we are ideally placed to deliver on Suffolk's twin goals of cost reduction and quality service delivery.
“At the same time, we're very much looking forward to working with the council to increase our contribution to the local economy through creating new apprenticeships, extending our use of local suppliers and developing a solid skills-base to ensure a successful future for the region."
WSP head of infrastructure Duncan Symonds said: "This announcement is extremely welcome and adds to the strength and depth of the MGWSP partnership, which has already been proven successful through five years with Northamptonshire County Council. WSP itself is renowned for its work in the highways sector, having worked on both national and local projects across the UK. We are looking forward to using this experience to deliver Suffolk County Council's highway maintenance and improvement works project both effectively and efficiently."
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