Network Rail names winners of £240m steel supply framework

Network Rail has confirmed the winning firms for a £240 million framework to supply steel products and structures for overhead line equipment (OLE) across the UK.

The two largest packages break down cleanly: £99 million for steel structures and £70 million for steel piles. Together that's roughly 70% of the framework's total value, concentrated in a handful of fabricators.

Who won the big lots?

The steel piles package (£70m) goes to three firms:

• Adey Steel
• European Active Projects
• Severfield Structural Solutions

The steel structures package (£99m) goes to four:

• Adey Steel
• Fullmen
• Pro Steel Engineering
• Taziker Industrial

Adey Steel is the only firm that appears on both major lots, which effectively doubles its exposure to the framework's core spend.

Which firms took the smaller lots?

Eight firms won the remaining, smaller packages:

• Associated Utility Supplies
• Folglade (Pipes and Fittings)
• Railability
• Trackwork
• Balfour Beatty Rail
• Furrer + Frey GB
• Gripple

The smaller lots cover the components around the steelwork — pipework, fittings, and OLE-related hardware — rather than the primary structures themselves.

What happens next?

The contracts start in January 2027 and run for a minimum of six years, with a possible two-year extension. That means the framework could carry these suppliers well into 2035 if the extension is triggered.

For the winners, the deal locks in a pipeline of rail steelwork demand stretching nearly a decade — a rare level of visibility in a sector where fabricators usually bid project by project.

By Elena Vasquez