WTM.L Regulatory News (WTM)

ATKINS / WATERMAN APPOINTED ON MAJOR CONSULTANCY FRAMEWORK

Atkins has been appointed as the sole Tier 1 supplier to the West Midlands Highway Alliance (WMHA) framework, will work in a strategic partnership with Waterman to deliver a broad range of municipal, highways and engineering consultancy services across the region.

Starting on June 1 2013, the Framework Agreement is led by Warwickshire County Council, Coventry City Council and Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, but could be accessed by any of the other 10 West Midlands local authorities who are members of the Alliance together with Centro, the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive. The Framework Agreement format also consists of three Tier 2 Framework Consultants - Jacobs UK Ltd and WSP UK Ltd.

Jason Pavey, Atkins' Framework Director expressed his enthusiasm for the new appointment:

 "This Framework is a key win for Atkins' Highways & Transportation business as the scope covers just about every consultancy service we offer - from transport planning, engineering design, asset management to site supervision. The scale and duration of the arrangements gives us the confidence to continue to develop and invest in the region and build long term strategic relationships with the WMHA'.

A key strength of the partnership between Atkins and Waterman was its unrivalled track record, capacity and capability in delivering similar consultancy contracts across the UK local authority sector. This offers clients experience and learning together with the flexibility to deploy resources to meet changing client demand through a combination of secondment, collaborative team and traditional consultancy working models.

Nick Taylor, Chief Executive of Waterman Group plc, also commented:

 "We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with members of the WMHA to achieve their objectives. We previously announced our strategy for increasing our involvement in public sector frameworks and this latest appointment adds to our success to date. We look forward to working with Atkins in the Strategic Partnership."

For further information please contact:

Nick Taylor, Chief Executive Broker Profile N+1 Singer

Waterman Group plc Simon Courtenay Sandy Fraser

Email: nick.taylor@watermangroup.com 020-7448-3244 020-7946-3178

020-7928-7888