Rock support successful delivery of the Mersey Gateway Project

  • Rock Infra

Halton’s iconic new Mersey Gateway Bridge opened to traffic this weekend; to time and on budget. The state of the art, six lane, open road toll bridge over the Mersey forms the centrepiece of one of the largest infrastructure projects in the UK.

Rock Infrastructure was appointed by Halton Borough Council as its development partner for the Mersey Gateway Project in 2011, providing strategic and structuring expertise and acting as principal in all commercial, legal and financial negotiations. Mark Swindell (Founding Partner Rock Infrastructure) was Commercial Director on the project and Matt Allen (Partner) led the commercial team, working closely with Project Director, Steve Nicholson. Rock devised the innovative procurement strategy delivering savings of £250m and best value for money design, build, finance and operations. In addition, Rock led funding term negotiations with the Department for Transport and HM Treasury, leading to the first use of the IUK Guarantees Scheme on a PPP infrastructure project.

Rock has continued to provide support since financial close in 2014 to the Mersey Gateway Crossings Board, the arms-length public sector body that was established to deliver the new crossing. As part of this support, Rock has focused on developing the business that will operate the crossing’s open road tolling collection system. The Mersey Gateway Project covers over nine kilometres of road improvements across Halton, including the bridge and a series of major new junctions running through Runcorn and Widnes. The project has already brought significant money and jobs to the region through the construction phase and is set to deliver huge ongoing economic, transport and social benefits including: over 4,500 new permanent jobs; regional regeneration and inward investment; reduced journey times, congestion & pollution as well as improvements to local public facilities.

David Parr, Chief Executive of Halton Borough Council, said:

“Rock has been instrumental in helping Halton bring the Mersey Gateway to market. Mersey Gateway is a complex and ground-breaking infrastructure project and Rock has been both innovative and effective in addressing a number of challenging areas, ensuring the project is delivered on time and on budget.”

Mark Swindell, Founding Partner of Rock Infrastructure, said:

“Rock was privileged to work with a fantastic team at Halton from the political leaders and CEO of Halton Borough Council to the Mersey Gateway Project Director and lead legal, technical and financial advisers.

“The DfT and Treasury also assisted Halton with this project and the public sector punched above its weight to deliver a smooth innovative procurement process that led to the delivery of an iconic, value for money, public asset for the long-term benefit of the Merseyside community.”

The Mersey Gateway Project was recognised at financial close receiving both PFI’s European Infrastructure Deal of the year and IJ Global’s European Road Deal of the year.

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Driving Net Zero: How Rock Road 
Is Funding the UK’s Bus Transition

Accelerating the shift to clean, affordable, zero-emission transport

Year
2025
Category
Rock Road
Share

The Challenge

The UK bus network is at the heart of everyday travel – but over 30,000 diesel buses still need replacing to achieve a fully zero-emission fleet.

While around 5,000 battery-electric buses are already on the road, the high upfront cost of electric vehicles and depot electrification continues to slow the transition. Traditional funding routes — such as government grants or short-term bank finance – have helped start the journey but cannot support decarbonisation at the scale required.

A new, sustainable funding model was needed: one that could attract long-term capital, spread costs fairly, and give operators and authorities confidence in the future.

The Solution

In 2021, Rock launched Rock Road to deliver exactly that –  applying its proven infrastructure financing approach from the rail sector to the UK’s clean bus revolution.

Working with Aviva, the National Wealth Fund, and HSBC, Rock created a dedicated investment platform that channels infrastructure-style finance from pension funds and institutional investors directly into zero-emission bus projects.

This model provides:
  • Access to billions in long-term private capital for fleets and depot electrification.
  • Low-cost, sustainable finance tailored to public-sector needs.
  • Comprehensive risk transfer, including residual value and battery performance, supported by Rock’s in-house team of engineers and asset managers.

Impact

The platform has already raised £100 million, with capacity to scale to £1 billion per year over the next decade – providing a consistent source of affordable capital for local authorities and operators.

Rock’s model ensures that the total cost of ownership (TCO) of electric buses can now be lower than diesel equivalents, thanks to both cheaper long-term finance and reduced operating costs.

In London, Rock has financed 120 zero-emission buses under 7-year leases aligned with Transport for London’s contract lengths. This structure gives operators flexibility and certainty:

  • Buses can be returned, renewed, or upgraded at the end of term.
  • Lease rates are predictable and capped.
  • Ownership and residual risks sit with Rock, not the operator.

The Future

Rock Road’s ambition is to support the rollout of zero-emission fleets across the UK – helping local authorities and operators meet climate goals without overextending public budgets.

By leveraging limited government funding to attract large-scale private capital – for example, £10 million of public investment unlocking over £250 million in total funding – Rock’s model accelerates decarbonisation while keeping costs low for the public sector.

Our ambition is to make electric buses the default choice - not because of subsidy, but because they are the best economic and environmental option.
Louis Swindell
Commercial Director, Rock Road