A major procurement milestone signals growing momentum behind strategic water infrastructure investment in England.
Thames Water has shortlisted three international joint ventures to bid for the £5.7 billion main works contract for the proposed White Horse Reservoir near Abingdon in Oxfordshire. Once complete, it would be the second-largest reservoir in the UK.
Image: Thames Water. The announcement moves one of the UK's most important future water-security projects into its next delivery phase and signals growing momentum behind strategic resilience investment.
The shortlisted teams are:
- BBV: Balfour Beatty (lead) and Vinci
- BMV+: Bouygues (lead), Murphy and VolkerFitzpatrick
- WFH: Webuild (lead), Hyundai Engineering & Construction and FCC Construcción
Bids are due in spring 2027, with contract award expected in autumn 2027. Construction is expected to take around a decade, followed by two winters of filling, with water available from 2040.
On the surface, this is a procurement update. In reality, it is a significant step for one of the most important water resource projects planned in England.
Two features stand out. The first is the delivery model. Thames Water plans to appoint a separate Infrastructure Provider in 2029, through a competitive process, to finance the project and deliver it alongside the main works contractor. It is the same approach used for the Thames Tideway Tunnel, and one of the first big tests of the regulator's specified infrastructure projects framework.
The second is the breadth of outcomes. Alongside water storage, the plans include around 500 hectares of wildlife habitat and recreational lakes, and construction is expected to support more than 1,000 jobs and apprenticeships across engineering, ecology, archaeology and environmental management. Thames Water is developing the scheme with Affinity Water and Southern Water.
The timing matters too. After a summer in which 71% of England was in drought, water companies' plans for new reservoirs, with Havant Thicket already under construction, have moved from long-term ambition to immediate necessity. Thames Water's programme director has described White Horse as a "once in a generation" project and said this summer showed how critical water storage is.
This week's procurement milestone is therefore about more than a contractor shortlist.
It is evidence that one of Britain's most significant future resilience projects is moving steadily from ambition towards delivery.