THE PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE

The following article was featured in Issue 12 of Public Service Review: Devolved Government 

 

Providing Community Benefit ………

 

Tayside Contracts is a unique organisation in terms of Scottish local government in that it provides specialist services to more than one council; to be precise it provides services to three Councils. These Councils are Angus, Dundee City and Perth and Kinross, which, at local government reorganisation, set up Tayside Contracts under a joint committee arrangement. It is a multi-disciplined organisation operating as a commercial trading organisation, providing a range of services throughout Tayside and other areas of Scotland.

 

Tayside Contracts employs a skilled and dedicated workforce of 2,500, with an annual turnover of £55m. Tayside Contracts Managing Director Iain Waddell acknowledged the contribution to the continuing success of the business by the workforce. He said that: “The recent lane rental contract on the M90 Perth Southern Bypass undertaken for the Scottish Executive clearly demonstrated the strong and competitive market force that the workforce has helped Tayside Contracts become.”

 

He went on to say that: “This is the second lane rental contract we have won on the M90 Perth Western Bypass in the last 12 months, both of which have been completed well within the contractual time period.”

 

The details of which are:

 

·         Contract value - £2.9m;

·         49 day contract period completed in 35 days;

·         Excavation of 50,000 tonnes of material;

·         14,000 tonnes was recycled as sub-base material;

·         35,000 tonnes of new surfacing material.

 

·         Contract value - £1.9m;

·         24 day contract period completed in 18 days;

·         Excavation of 30,000 tonnes of material;

·         10,000 tonnes was recycled as sub-base material;

·         22,000 tonnes of new surfacing material.

 

Helping the environment and reducing waste is a key priority for Tayside Contracts with the business being at the forefront of many recycling initiatives that have seen them win a number of coveted awards including an award from VIBES (Vision in Business for the Environment of Scotland).

 

On this theme, as part of both these contracts, the majority of the excavated material was taken back to Tayside Contracts’ Quarry at Collace, which is some 10 miles from the site. There the excavated material was sorted, screened and crushed to produce a material that met the stringent specification requirements for the sub-base for the new road. In addition, recycled material was also added into the mixes of the new bituminous materials that made up the new surface of the road. Not only was Tayside Contracts adding value to a waste material but they were also reducing the amount of vehicle journeys, reducing the amount of material going to landfill sites and reducing the amount of virgin material required for the new road surface.

 

Waddell said: “The success of a contract of this nature is due to the expertise we have developed in project management and the partnering approach we have adopted with our subcontractors and suppliers.” He added: “The success of both these contracts clearly demonstrates how well the public and private sectors can work together to the benefit of the travelling public.”

 

He concluded by saying: “I believe that you will increasingly see partnerships of this nature as a means of providing services to the public in ways that have not been seen in the past.”