BMV JV M5 Oldbury Viaduct Scheme wins Highways England Award

The awards celebrate the industry-leading performance and valuable work which Highways England’s supply chain undertakes, to improve safety and deliver innovation and effective customer services.

BMV received the award in the ‘Building Capacity and Capability’ category, for their work on accessing the potential employment market using innovative approaches to tap into a diverse talent pool across all sectors of the community and their proactive strategies and employment initiatives, recruiting talent from both traditional and non-traditional routes.

Oldbury Viaduct was opened in 1970 and carries approximately 3km of the M5 to the west of Birmingham between junctions 1 and 2. The waterproofing system on the viaduct has reached the end of its lifespan resulting in the reinforced concrete deteriorating and requiring extensive repair. This is the largest concrete repair project (by value) ever undertaken in the UK and currently the largest scaffolding project in Europe.

Martin Phillips, sustainable business manager for the M5 Oldbury Viaduct project, said:

‘I was born in West Bromwich and live in Oldbury. It is important to me that the scheme does its very best for Black Country communities, so the BMV Skills team worked hard with agencies such as Think Sandwell and Women into Construction, utilising their expertise to find the right candidates. This resulted in BMV employing nine local apprentices, with a demographic that matches that of the Black Country and ranging in age from 17 to 60 years old. We have also employed people from disadvantaged backgrounds and with disabilities, both on site and in our offices and canteens. We constantly strive to find new opportunities to support local businesses and charities and have been working with Ideal for All, an Oldbury based disabled charity on BMV’s legacy project, a community garden in Wednesbury.’