New contractors for London and South East canal maintenance
22nd Apr 2008
An initial three-year contract to undertake canal maintenance and minor works across British Waterways’ (BW) London and South East business units, has been awarded to Fountains Plc following a tendering process.
The contract, which rationalises a number of previous contractors across the Capital and South East, will create further efficiency and ensure that BW gets more from the money invested in waterways maintenance.
Although the contractor will start with immediate effect with grass cutting and litter clearing on the River Lee and River Stort, their main contract will start on 1 June 2008. It will include day to day activities such as grass cutting, weed management, moorings maintenance, litter and dog waste removal (including bin emptying), cleaning of customer facilities, and vegetation maintenance. In addition, BW can call upon Fountains Plc where necessary to undertake specific tasks such as lock painting, graffiti and carcass removal, pest control, fly tipping prevention and tree works.
A strong background in heritage and vegetation management
Jon Guest, customer operations manager for British Waterways London, comments: "Fountains has a strong background in heritage and vegetation management, and has the experience of working alongside in-house teams such as BW’s own bank staff. They currently undertake similar works for the Royal Parks and have been awarded Green Flag awards for their contracts. The partnership with BW will ensure we get better efficiency so that ultimately our customers see more for the money we have available to spend on maintenance.
"With Fountains focussing on day-to-day routine tasks, the BW team who are also our 'face' on the towpath will continue to undertake specialist tasks including offside tree works, or responding to emergency calls such as broken paddles or unstable lock gates."
Find out how you can volunteer along our rivers and canals.
contact us