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The Design Services contract for motorways and major A roads in Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire and South Lancashire is worth £49.7 million, will run for up to 5 years and has been awarded to Amey Consulting as part of Highways England’s Asset Delivery operating model.

The contract, which starts in April 2019, will see Amey Consulting carrying out the designs of structures, drains, barriers, signs, landscaping, lighting, traffic signals and other features across the North West’s 260 miles of motorway and 50 miles of major A road.

Highways England’s Executive Director of Operations, Nick Harris, said:

This contract will enable Highways England to deliver schemes which will improve both journeys for our customer and the condition of the road network. We are delighted to award this contract to Amey Consulting and look forward to establishing a successful, long-term relationship with them.

Amey’s Chief Executive Andy Milner, said:

Collaboration is at the core of Amey Consulting’s approach, and working closely with Highways England and the Asset Delivery Community, we look forward to delivering long-lasting benefits for the communities of the North West.

The Design Services contract is the second of the Asset Delivery suite of contracts to be awarded in the Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire and South Lancashire area. In October Amey were awarded the £325 million Asset Delivery Maintenance and Response contract which will run for up to 15 years. The Construction Works Framework is due to be awarded in the coming months.

Highways England will be working with all the successful contractors to ensure that they are ready to begin delivering key services from April 2019.

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

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Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.

Baroness Fairhead announces €450 million in UK Export Finance (UKEF) support for UK firms to build three new hospitals and upgrade two power stations, improving healthcare and power provision in Angola.

Baroness Fairhead, Minister of State for Trade and Export Promotion, said:

I’m delighted that the UK Government, through UK Export Finance, is supporting these two projects. It enables a Scottish exporter to enter a global marketplace and deliver reliable power to millions of people in Angola. It also showcases how British expertise can assist the development of vital healthcare services.

This is a great example of how our ambition to grow exports, as set out in the Export Strategy, is helping British businesses break into overseas markets through support such as that provided through UKEF, our award-winning export credit agency, our teams led by HM Trade Commissioners in market and our GREAT.gov.uk website.

Opportunities for UK healthcare and construction suppliers

This is the first time UKEF, the UK’s export credit agency, has supported projects in Angola.

€380 million will go to support a contract between Angola’s Ministry of Health and ASGC UK, the UK branch of international construction firm ASGC, to build three new hospitals. The company will lead on the design, construction and equipping of the Mother and Child Hospital and Paediatric Haematology Institute, both based in Luanda, and the Cabinda General Hospital. The projects will create significant opportunities for UK healthcare and construction suppliers.

Once complete, the Mother and Child Hospital will have over 300 beds available, and the Cabinda General Hospital over 200, providing much-needed healthcare services to major population centres in Angola. The haematology unit will provide a range of specialist services including radiology, intensive care and a paediatric ward.

IQA Group, headquartered in Paisley, will upgrade two power substations in Viana and Gabela over the course of two years, significantly reducing North West Angola’s dependence on oil-generated power. UKEF will provide a guarantee to support a €70 million loan issued to the Angolan Ministry of Finance for the project.

This is the first international contract for IQA Group, which was established in 2002 and is now the UK arm of Spanish multinational Elecnor, and which is leading a consortium to deliver the work for the Ministry of Energy and Water in Angola.

Supporting economic growth and development

The project will have a transformative effect on the region’s power network, giving thousands of Luanda’s residents, as well as industry in the region, improved access to electricity to support economic growth and development.

Baroness Northover, the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy for Angola and Zambia, said:

I have visited Angola regularly in the last two years in support of UK- Angola business co-operation, and am acutely aware of the growing opportunities there. It is wonderful that these important projects have come to fruition and I look forward to seeing more in the future.

Gregory Smyth, Managing Director, IQA Group, said:

IQA Group has ambitious plans for international growth, building on our success in the UK, and we’re pleased that UKEF, along with the DIT team at the British Embassy in Luanda, is supporting us as we enter new markets. Support from UK Export Finance is a central part of our international offer, and is supporting our operations and jobs in Scotland.

Paul Woodman, Managing Director, ASGC, said:

UKEF’s support forms a crucial component of our strategy, enabling us to grow revenues and deliver value for clients such as the Angolan government. The government’s commitment to the growth of UK exports is continuing to help us build confidence with overseas customers and with UK suppliers.

Background

UK Export Finance is the UK’s export credit agency and a government department, working alongside the Department for International Trade as an integral part of its strategy and operations.

Our mission is to ensure that no viable UK export should fail for want of finance or insurance from the private market. We provide finance and insurance to help exporters win, fulfil and ensure they get paid for export contracts.

Sectors in which UKEF has supported exports include: aerospace, healthcare, infrastructure, telecommunications and transport.

UKEF has a national regional network of 24 export finance managers supporting export businesses.

Our range of products includes:

• Bond insurance policy
• Bond support scheme
• Buyer & supplier credit financing facility
• Direct lending facility
• Export insurance policy
• Export refinancing facility
• Export working capital scheme
• Letter of credit guarantee scheme

Our country cover positions outline our current cover policy and risk appetite for each country.

To mark the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation has today (9 November 2018) released a short film with exclusive testimony from 6 British survivors of the Holocaust.

On the 9 and 10 November 1938, Jewish communities in Germany and throughout Nazi occupied territories faced widespread state-sponsored violence against their businesses, homes and places of worship. The pogrom became known as Kristallnacht (in English, crystal night) after the smashed glass that littered the streets on the morning of the 10 November.

Over the course of the evening an estimated 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and incarcerated in concentration camps, including Dachau and Buchenwald.

The UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation set out in 2015 to record the testimony of British survivors of the Holocaust. In interviews with broadcaster Natasha Kaplinsky, survivors recall their experiences of Kristallnacht and the aftermath of the violence on their daily lives, their families and their wider communities.

UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation co-Chair Ed Balls said:

Kristallnacht was a moment where prejudice turned into violence, and it is right 80 years on, that we examine this vicious escalation of the Nazi campaign against Jewish communities in Europe.

By understanding the steps that lead up to the Holocaust, we are can remain vigilant to any attempt to create divisions and stir up hate in our society today.

UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation co-Chair Lord Pickles said:

The Foundation was set up to increase the visibility and scope of Holocaust education in the United Kingdom, securing the legacy of the British Holocaust survivors who have dedicated their lives to educating the future generation on where prejudice, intolerance and hatred can lead.

Our hope is that the short film released today, with moving testimony from men and women who recall the impact of Kristallnacht on their own communities, is a small step in achieving these aims.

The aftermath of Kristallnacht

Kristallnacht was a turning point in the Nazi persecution of the Jewish communities in their territories. The events of the pogrom, widely reported in the international press, lead to a wide range of responses.

British Jewish community organisations and charities, including World Jewish Relief, rallied the UK government to allow the transport of children from Germany and Austria to the United Kingdom. Less than a month after the shocking events of Kristallnacht, on 2 December 1938, the first group of children arrived on British shores to be placed with foster families. Ultimately, 10,000 child refugees entered the country in what came to be known as Kindertransport.