PRESS RELEASE: Watertight International has been appointed to a major Department for Education framework to deliver Property Flood Resilience (PFR) and nature-based improvements across schools in three regions of England.
Watertight has secured the engineering contracts for Lot 2 (Northeast), Lot 3 (West Midlands and South of England (excluding London)), and Lot 4 (London); the maximum three regional lots available to any individual supplier.
Delivered through the Department for Education’s ‘Schools Property Flood Resilience: Regional Providers (Design and Build)’ contract, the programme will help schools in areas at higher risk of flooding, including those that have experienced repeated disruption, to become more resilient to future events.
The five-lot framework is valued at £57 million across all five Lots, and is potentially worth up to £100 million excluding VAT. The initial 3 year contract term is valued at £57 million across all five Lots. The £100 million figure represents the maximum potential value, including optional extensions, across all five regional lots and is not guaranteed expenditure, or the value awarded specifically to Watertight. It will run for an initial three years (to 31 August 2029), with options to extend for up to two further years.
Watertight, which has been delivering flood resilience solutions to schools for several years, will provide end-to-end design and delivery across participating schools, bringing together PFR, wider engineered works and nature-based interventions – with delivery varying dependent on each school’s individual assessment, requirements and agreed design.
The programme takes an ‘invest to save’ approach, recognising that strengthening resilience can help to reduce future flood damage while minimising disruption to pupils, staff and the wider school community.
Gareth Boyd, CEO of Watertight International said: “We are incredibly proud to have been appointed to this important national framework across three regions of England. Schools sit at the heart of their communities and the consequences of flooding extend far beyond damage to buildings. It can disrupt children’s education, place considerable worry on staff and families, and also add pressure on public resources.
“This programme provides an opportunity to take a proactive, site-specific approach and brings together property measures, drainage and nature-based interventions to help schools become more resilient, and recover more quickly, when flooding occurs.
“Being awarded the maximum number of three regional lots is also a tremendous endorsement of our team’s expertise and commitment to the ‘Watertight Way’, which is focused on delivering the highest quality property-level flood resilience solutions, every time.”
Watertight project manages, designs, sources, installs and maintains bespoke and innovative PFR solutions to commercial and domestic clients, including the Environment Agency, local authorities, schools, government departments, main contractors, housing associations, insurance companies, Flood Re, banks, communities and individual businesses and homeowners.
The new Department for Education programme will also provide opportunities for Watertight to support skills development and create wider social value within the regions in which it operates.
“This appointment represents a significant milestone for Watertight and gives us an excellent platform from which to continue investing in our people, the wider supply chain and our regional delivery capability. We very much look forward to working with the Department for Education to deliver both practical resilience improvements and, through our work with partners, give pupils the chance to learn more about climate resilience and explore careers in construction.”
