Wiltshire and Gloucestershire launch £392m road surfacing tenders

Wiltshire and Gloucestershire councils have put £392m of road surfacing work up for grabs in a double boost for highways contractors.

The neighbouring authorities have launched separate competitions for countywide programmes stretching into the next decade. Bids for both close at noon on 19 November.

What does Wiltshire's £200m deal cover?

Wiltshire's £200m machine surfacing contract will run for an initial six years from June 2027. Two extensions of two years each could take it through to May 2037.

The work covers machine surfacing and associated civils, road markings, road studs, loop cutting and traffic management on highways and other council land.

What is Gloucestershire procuring?

Gloucestershire is seeking a contractor for a £192m structural surfacing programme starting in April 2027. Its initial four-year term can be extended by another four years to March 2035.

The council forecasts spending around £24m annually. Work will include stripping and replacing road surfaces, structural repairs, patching, minor reactive schemes, kerbing, ironwork adjustments and road markings, together with traffic management.

The competition follows an extension of incumbent Tarmac's contract after an earlier replacement tender was halted in autumn 2025 because of a technical issue with the tender documents.

Gloucestershire expects an award decision in January, followed by Wiltshire in February.

Which other councils are tendering surfacing work?

Other authorities are bringing resurfacing packages to market within wider highways procurements:

• Ealing has a £140m highways term contract out to tender, split equally between maintenance and improvement works. Its maintenance lot includes standalone resurfacing and repaving programmes, with bids due at noon on 30 October.
• Salford's £300m technical and highways works framework includes a £20m specialist surface-treatment lot and a £100m minor civils lot covering road and footway resurfacing. Submissions close at 3pm on 4 November.
• Derby is procuring a four-year highways framework with a £24m core carriageway maintenance lot and a £6m surface-treatment lot. These could rise to £36m and £9m respectively if additional requirements arise from local government reorganisation.

With £392m on the table from two counties alone and further packages live in Ealing, Salford and Derby, surfacing contractors face a crowded tender calendar through to mid-November — and award decisions landing in the first quarter of 2026.