The Environment Agency has awarded a contract for the emergency procurement of flood barriers due to unprecedented and unpredicted rainfall during December 2015.

The Agency said the high levels of rainfall had led to an extremely urgent need to purchase additional barriers as part of its response to defending communities at risk of flooding.

The Agency undertook the fast-track procurement without going through the standard procedure of issuing a contract notice inviting suppliers to submit tenders. Justification for this route was “extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable by the contracting authority.”

Warwick-based Geodesign Barriers Ltd won the £219,500 contract – the only company to submit a bid.