To expedite this project, the Government elected to secure a PPP contract with a consortium team able to design, build, finance, and operate the facility. During the initial procurement process, the winning team of Trafalgar House and Wimpey was converted to Kvaerner and BIBB when the firm that acquired Wimpey's civil engineering interests refused to sign the concession agreement. Wimpey was then replaced by Balfour Beatty (a part of BICC). As a result, the Highways Agency entered into a 30-year DBFO concession contract with the concession team of Kvaerner and BICC. The resulting contract extended from 1996 to 2026.
The composition of the resulting PPP is listed below:
• Public Sponsor: Highways Agency. Pell Frischmann Consultants Ltd. performed the preliminary design and engineering services for the project before the concession procurement process, and subsequently serving as the Management Agent on behalf of the Government.
• Private Concession Team: M1-A1 Link Ltd. won the original concession, consisting of a joint venture between BICC and Kvaerner Construction. Through acquisitions, this DBFO concession company became Connect M1-A1 Holdings Ltd. which is a joint venture team in which each member holds a 50 percent interest in the project:
- Balfour Beatty (construction division of BICC) - primarily responsible for the construction, operation, and maintenance of the highway link
- Kvaerner Construction Group (whose interest in the project was subsequently acquired by the Macquarie Infrastructure Group (MIG) in1999) - primarily responsible for construction of the highway link. Since its acquisition of Kvaerner's interest in the project, MIG has been primarily involved in overall project management and financial management functions relating to the M1-A1 Link.
Supporting the concession team was the Jacobs Babtie Group, which provided design and construction engineering services throughout the concession team's project development process.