There is also an option for a renewal for the subsequent five-year AMP6 framework, subject to satisfactory performance.
As part of the deal, BTU will carry out mechanical and electrical improvements at hundreds of Southern Water assets, such as treatment works and pumping stations, from now until 2020. Operations will be based at Havant, with an estimated 40 office staff and a further 120 employees and contractors in the field.
A three-month transitional programme is underway, with BTU effectively operational from July 1.
Barhale chairman Dennis Curran, and Trant chairman Patrick Trant, said in a joint statement: “Southern Water has incredibly high standards and we’re thrilled we met the rigorous framework criteria. This contract is great news for staff at newly formed BTU, and it provides an opportunity to establish BTU as one of the UK’s leading water infrastructure specialists.”
Southern Water chief executive Les Dawson commented: “It is essential that the suppliers we engage to work on our behalf not only deliver a service which is of the highest standard but also share Southern Water’s ethos of having customers at the heart of its business.”
Southern Water supplies fresh, quality drinking water to more than one million households, and treats and recycles wastewater from nearly two million households across Hampshire, Sussex, Kent and the Isle of Wight.
It supplies 552Ml of drinking water from 95 water treatment works along more than 13,600km of water mains to customers’ taps.
The BTU contract relates broadly to Southern Water’s western region, which comprises Hampshire and West Sussex.