Milton Keynes City Council has awarded contracts to Qwello UK Ltd to install, operate, and maintain residential electric vehicle charging infrastructure across Milton Keynes, United Kingdom.

The Residential EV Chargers project announced by Milton Keynes City Council aims to expand the network of on-street electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure across Milton Keynes in the United Kingdom. The initiative is supported by £1.442 million (US$1.9 million) from the UK government’s Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund. The funding is intended to address gaps in the city’s residential charging coverage, particularly in areas where residents do not have private driveways or off-street parking. The project focuses on installing low-power, on-street EV charging facilities to improve accessibility for EV users and encourage the adoption of electric vehicles. The overall programme was divided into four geographically defined lots—Blue, Green, Orange, and Yellow—to enable multiple service providers to participate in deploying and managing the charging network. Each lot is planned to include approximately 101 charging points located at various residential sites across the city. The project combines public funding with private investment, allowing suppliers to install and operate the charging infrastructure while supporting long-term service delivery. Following the tender process, contracts for two of the lots—Orange and Yellow—were awarded to Qwello UK Ltd. Each contract has a value of about £1.3 million (excluding VAT) and covers the installation, operation, and maintenance of EV charging infrastructure at 31 locations per lot in Milton Keynes. The contracts are expected to run for approximately 15 years, from April 2026 until March 2041. Under the concession arrangement, the supplier will manage the infrastructure and pay an annual fee to the council while ensuring reliable service for EV users. 

In Lot 3 (Orange Lot), a total of two tenders were received during the procurement process. However, after evaluation, only one tender progressed to the final assessment stage, and that submission was from a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME). No bids were submitted by voluntary, community, or social enterprises (VCSEs). Following the evaluation, one supplier was awarded the contract. A similar situation occurred for Lot 4 (Yellow Lot). The contracting authority received two tenders in total, but only one was assessed in the final stage, again submitted by an SME. As with the Orange Lot, no VCSE submissions were recorded. Ultimately, one supplier was awarded the contract for this lot. The contracting authority decided not to award two of these lots, specifically Lot 1 (Blue Lot) and Lot 2 (Green Lot). Each of these lots was intended to include around 31 locations for electric vehicle charging points, similar to the awarded lots.