Projects
Bringing our customers on the journey
Meet our customer and stakeholder team, playing an essential role in delivering the huge A428 highways improvement scheme.
Putting customers at the heart of delivery
Sitting in a work’s van on a tour of the A428 improvement scheme for customer National Highways brings to life the size and scale of this huge project – currently the UK’s biggest roads upgrade in main construction.
Spanning a 10-mile stretch, the project runs from the Black Cat roundabout near St. Neots to the Caxton Gibbet roundabout in Cambridgeshire. “We have our ‘online’ and ‘offline’ teams,” says Project Engagement Manager John Akester. “The ‘online’ team are working in a live environment next to existing roads and structures, the ‘offline’ team is building the new dual carriageway on its new designated route.”
Standing in the centre of the Black Cat roundabout in the heart of the online environment shows the complexity and engineering excellence needed to deliver this new interchange. John adds: “We’re building a new underpass for the A1, which will run seven metres underneath a re-modelled Black Cat gyratory system. A new flyover for the A421 will run overhead, then we’re building free flowing links which will significantly ease traffic and improve journey times around the Black Cat.”
The project will mean that the last remaining 10-mile stretch of the A428, between the M1 and the port of Felixstowe, which is still a single carriageway, will be dualled, easing congestion, improving journey times and unlocking economic growth. But big construction inevitably means some disruption, for residents and businesses close to the works area, as well as for people driving through.
“Planning a project like this and finding ways to minimise the impacts for everybody starts way before we get to site,” says Project Senior Engagement Manager Aminata (Ami) Martin. “From the earliest point, we’re working with design consultants and National Highways, putting customers at the centre of our delivery approach.”
Customer and community engagement in action
Our approach is to look beyond construction to the wider impact of our work, using insight, communication and collaboration to shape more customer-focused solutions. Ami says: “On this project, we have aimed to redefine what stakeholder and customer engagement should look like. This has included engaging stakeholder groups, residents and business through really proactive communications, including events, webinars, social media, leaflet drops and regular newsletters.” This has included:
- 12,000+ people engaged at community events
- 10,000+ people subscribing to a reguar update newsletter
- 1,000+ people attended online webinars
- 620+ enquries managed, with 90% postivity for timely and high-quality responses
- 375+ social media posts with 35,000 likes
- 67 Advanced Notification Letters sent in line with National Highways guidellines
“We’ve really tried to bring the project to life for people,” adds Ami. “In addition to letting people know well in advance about works happening that could affect them, it’s included regular interviews and updates from members of the project team which we’ve posted on social media, including facebook and X. These have been really well received.”
John adds: “We completely understand that the work can be frustrating for people at times. But equally, through the engagement we’ve undertaken, the vast majority of people understand what we’re doing, why and what the longer-term benefits will be.
“One example that stands out for me was our work building a new 33 metre bridge over the East Coast Main Line. All works were coordinated with Network Rail, which meant that we were able to complete the structure with no additional closures required on the line – meaning no disruption from our work for rail passengers. Given the complexity of the job, it was a big achievement.”
Reflecting on the community engagement work, Gareth Moores, National Highways Project Director for the scheme, said: "I have been extremely impressed by the way that the stakeholder teams from both Skanska and National Highways have approach things so collaboratively, they have worked tirelessly to ensure we are providing a first-class service to our customers and stakeholders. The use of social media and direct customer engagement has been game changing on this scheme and I hope this is a model that can be rolled out across more projects."
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