National Highways is preparing the Maintenance and Response 2 framework for maintenance, reactive services and selected renewal works across England’s strategic road network.
The planned framework has an estimated value of £7.96 billion excluding VAT, or £9.55 billion including VAT. The tender notice is expected on 24 August 2026, with requests to participate currently scheduled to close on 5 October 2026.
Seven regional lots
The proposed procurement contains seven location-based lots:
- South West;
- South East;
- East;
- Midlands West;
- Midlands East;
- North West; and
- Yorkshire and North East.
National Highways may appoint a single supplier to each lot. Tenderers may be required to state their order of preference, and the award rules may limit the number of lots a bidder can secure.
Each successful regional supplier may also be appointed to an overarching framework that provides network resilience if another M&R2 supplier fails or can no longer fulfil its obligations.
What M&R2 will cover
The planned scope includes:
- cyclical maintenance;
- reactive maintenance for urgent needs;
- incident response;
- severe weather operations and winter maintenance;
- maintenance and schemes for operational roadside technology; and
- selected asset renewals, including road markings, soft estate, lighting, signs, restraint systems and fencing.
The extensive classification list also reflects highways, surfacing, street lighting, signals, barriers, drainage-related services and supporting equipment. Bidders will need to assess whether they can deliver the integrated regional service rather than selecting individual work types.
Scale and duration
The overarching framework is expected to run from 6 January 2028 to 1 July 2037. Individual lot contracts are anticipated to operate for approximately eight and a half years, with starting dates staggered across roughly 12 months.
The overall value includes inflation and contingency, so it does not equal the sum of the individual lot values shown in the notice. The figures are estimates rather than guaranteed supplier revenue.
Proposed procurement process
National Highways plans to use a competitive flexible procedure with two main stages:
- a conditions-of-participation stage, where suppliers may be shortlisted based on legal and financial capacity and technical ability; and
- a tender stage, where the most advantageous tenders will be identified.
Detailed tender documents are expected to be made available to shortlisted suppliers through the National Highways eSourcing portal. The final procedure and criteria should be checked when the tender notice is issued.
What prospective bidders should prepare
M&R2 will require more than a collection of highways case studies. The bid will need to demonstrate a resilient operating model that can manage planned activity, incidents and severe weather across a large region.
Preparation should include:
- selecting the regional lots where the organisation has credible depots, people, plant and supply chain coverage;
- reviewing 24-hour control, escalation and emergency response arrangements;
- developing evidence for winter service, incident management and network recovery;
- mapping competence across maintenance, technology and renewal workstreams;
- testing supply chain capacity and contingency arrangements;
- preparing examples of safe delivery on live strategic roads;
- strengthening asset data, performance reporting and continuous improvement evidence;
- planning social value, local employment and carbon commitments by region; and
- agreeing a clear lot preference and consortium or subcontracting strategy.
Evidence should show outcomes at comparable scale, including response performance, availability, safety, customer impact and programme reliability.
Start before the live tender
The gap between the expected tender notice and the participation deadline may appear generous, but a multi-lot infrastructure procurement can require extensive governance, evidence and partner coordination. Early bid/no-bid decisions will help suppliers avoid spreading resources across regions they cannot support convincingly.
Our transport tender team supports highways contractors with pre-bid planning, qualification submissions, technical writing and independent review.
Key dates and official notice
- Estimated tender notice: 24 August 2026.
- Enquiry deadline: 21 September 2026 at 11.59pm.
- Requests to participate: 5 October 2026 at 10am.
- Estimated award decision: 26 November 2027.
Review the National Highways M&R2 planned procurement notice and monitor the eSourcing portal for the formal tender documents.
Build an M&R2 bid plan
Thornton & Lowe can help potential bidders assess regional fit, organise evidence and establish a controlled response process before the competition intensifies.
Contact our bid specialists to discuss preparation for National Highways M&R2.
