SUNDERLAND HIGHWAYS SCHEME PROVIDES £17.1M BBOOSOT FSOTR FLOOCRALLSMOECSAL SMES

Esh Construction and Sunderland City Council have been playing their part to help safeguard the economic future of our region’s local SMEs with a £17.1m injection.

Phase 3 of the Sunderland Strategic Transport Corridor (SSTC3) is a £40m development which will provide an uninterrupted dual carriageway (A1231) that links the Northern Spire bridge and Sunderland city centre and forms part of the council’s £70.8m investment to relieve congestion issues, improve business links and connect communities to the city centre and Riverside Sunderland.

As Esh Construction prepares to handover the completed project in autumn 2021, the new transport corridor also opens up a more sufficient route which connects Nissan, the Low Carbon Enterprise Zone, and International Advanced Manufacturing Park to the city centre.

Sunderland City Council’s Chief Executive, Patrick Melia, said: “We are committed to building community wealth and delivering projects that are supported by local businesses, so the city and its people get the maximum benefit of any council spend. As with many other projects we're working on across Sunderland, SSTC3 is delivering tangible benefits to our communities through our work with Esh Construction, who share a commitment to added value through their work.

“This project is improving our city's connectivity and tranport links for residents and businesses, but we feel it is important that they benefit f rom the project itself and not just the end result.”

A commitment was made at the procurement stage by Esh Construction and Sunderland City Council to deliver key social and economic value targets for Sunderland, as well as the surrounding local area; Tyne & Wear, Durham, and Northumberland. Now, with more than 80% of the project finished, 53% of workers are f rom Sunderland, 93% of workers are f rom the surrounding local area, 32 jobs have been created for local workers, and spend with local SMEs is projected to rise to £21.6m as the project heads toward completion.

Esh Construction’s SSTC3 Project Director, Steve Garrigan, said: “This project has set a benchmark for future schemes. It has been a really big challenge and it has pushed the boundaries. We piloted a new framework which targeted the elements of social worth to benefit the community. Working with Sunderland City Council, we have set a precedent for procurement moving forwards.”