The company in charge of maintaining the Menai Suspension Bridge has made over £15m in profits in recent years despite the sudden closure of the bridge in October due to safety concerns, it has been reported. According to the company's accounts the company also paid out £9.6m in dividends.
North Wales Live report that over the last four years, the company has made £15.4m in profits. The bridge was closed unexpectedly in October due to safety concerns and is not expected to open until January, end even then will have a 7.5 tonne weight limit. North Wales Live have now examined the accounts of the firm - UK Highways A55 Ltd, which won the contract to build the expressway’s 31km Anglesey extension to Holyhead in 1998.
Through this, they found that the Welsh Government has also paid out over £300m for the Anglesey A55 section of the road since it was built. It is reported that under a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) deal with Tony Blair’s UK Labour Government, the company has responsibility to maintain the road until 2028, along with an extra 9km of local trunk road, including the Menai Suspension Bridge.
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The company carries out inspections on the bridge every two years and in-depth surveys every six years. On October 21, 2022, the historic crossing was closed to all traffic, including pedestrians and cyclists, following safety recommendations from structural engineers.
The announcement was made following recent testing of the bridge's existing hangers. As part of UK Highways A55 ongoing maintenance of the Menai Bridge, it was identified that further testing would need to be carried out, alongside the replacement of some of the hangers.
Temporary hanger strengthening works may need to be installed to ensure the safety and integrity of the bridge. This could take between 14-16 weeks, with the bridge reopening in early 2023.
The company earns “shadow tolls” from the Welsh Government, with these funds depending on how mcuh traffic on the roads. As an result, these have increased from around £13m in 2001 to more than £19m last year. Since 2018, UK Highways A55 Ltd was paid £69m in “shadow tolls” and subsequently spent £22m on “major maintenance” over this period. A further £9.77m was spent on “remedial repairs” over the four years.
However, before allowing for interest costs on its debts and corporation tax payments, the company made £25m in operating profits over this period. In the 12 months to March 2018, a year before an issue with the bridge's hangers was spotted, the company made an operating profit of nearly £11m. Over the same period, it spent just £345,000 on major maintenance.
However, these figures relate to the entire section of the A55 network that it operates and maintains and figures for the Menai Suspension Bridge have not been disclosed.
According to North Wales Live, once the 30-year-deal to build and maintain the road expires in 2028, the total bill to the taxpayer is likely to be over £400m. Over the last 20 years, less than £50m has been spent on "major maintenance". So far UK Highways A55 Ltd has received £311.2m in tolls.
To finance the construction UK Highways A55 Ltd borrowed £109m from a consortium of banks. That debt is due to be repaid in December 2023. The awarding of the contract was originally made by the Secretary of State for Wales in 1998. Although the Welsh Government has responsibility for the contract’s management, it does not hold records of the original procurement.
A spokesperson for UK Highways A55 Ltd told North Wales Live: “The Menai Suspension Bridge closed in October 2022 due to an issue in the structural integrity of the bridge that posed a risk to public safety. This issue was inherent in the bridge’s suspension system and completely unrelated to the ongoing maintenance of the bridge. The existing maintenance programme is developed by expert engineers and agreed by the Welsh Government.”
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “This is an historic contract, which we inherited from the UK Government. Welsh ministers have consistently criticised the now discredited form of PFI which was current when this contract was awarded nearly 30 years ago.”
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