French trucks into water
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• Two UK water companies have clinched separate deals with the French water company SAUR to tender for local authority contracts, following water privatisation at the end of last year.
Welsh Water is co-owner of Cambrian Environmental Services (CES), which is bidding for a refuse collection contract in Cornwall, due to be awarded in March.
CES is concentrating on Wales and the western half of England, where it is looking for waste collection, land fill consultancy, industrial cleaning and office cleaning contracts.
Southern Water's SAUR partnership, Stalwart Environmental Services, has been shortlisted for nine local authority contracts in the South East and the Midlands. It plans to expand into waste disposal but will avoid toxic, hazardous or liquid waste.
Last September, Southern Water also established a CV rental subsidiary, Top Mark Vehicle Leasing, plans to push into the private leasing market this year. Its fleet of more than 1,000 vehicles, ranging from vans to 38-tonners, is mainly used on internal lease to Southern Water. The company also plans to expand into vehicle maintenance; it is bidding for contracts for six of its workshops in Hampshire, Kent and Sussex.
John Ashmore, transport manager of North West Water (and a former transport manager of the year), says that his company is also expanding into the vehicle servicing and maintenance business.
It has already won several contracts for its 23 workshops in the North West with local operators. Its biggest servicing contract to date is with the National Rivers Authority, for which NWW now maintains around 250 vehicles on a fixed price agreement.
Now it plans to expand its local servicing work for commercial vehicles and plant. The company is considering other ways to strengthen its activities in areas such as transport and maintenance, and it might even join the motor trade.