Norwich City Council reaches agreement to end dispute over multi-million pound contract

Norwich City Council has managed to get a key multi-million pound contract back on track, after reaching agreement with a bidder who obtained an injunction against the authority last month.

Morrison Facilities Services sought the injunction from the High Court over the local authority’s award of its housing repairs, maintenance and improvement contract. Norwich had named rival Connaught, which bid £17.5m, as its preferred supplier.

Morrison, which previously ran the service, had put in a bid worth £23m and claimed that its rival’s bid was “abnormally low”. It also argued that Norwich had not properly investigated Connaught's bid.

A spokeswoman for Norwich City Council said: “We’re pleased we’ve been able to resolve our differences with Morrison in connection with the demobilisation of CityCare services.”

Peter Jones, chief executive of Connaught, welcomed the end to the legal challenge. He said: “This ends many weeks of uncertainty and brings much needed peace of mind both for residents and for the CityCare staff who TUPE transferred to us.”

A Morrison spokesperson said the company was pleased to have resolved its differences with the council.