Carillion wins defence deals worth £158m

Embattled contractor Carillion has marched off with two more Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) FM contracts, worth £158m in total.

The firm is part of a joint venture that will provide soft FM services in the DIO’s northern region and the Scotland and Northern Ireland region, for a five-year period.

Carillion, which last week announced £845m of writedowns, said it had the opportunity to double the contract value over its term “through catering and retail sales”.

These contracts follow on from the award of the £200m south east and London region by DIO to earlier this year.

The awards form part of DIO’s Hestia programme, which aims to consolidate its soft FM services into seven regional contracts.

The Carillion JV will deliver soft FM services, including catering, retail and leisure, together with hotel and mess services.

The north region contract will employ around 1,500 people, covering 130 military establishments, and will go live at the beginning of next January. The Scotland and Northern Ireland region contract will start this November, covering a further 103 military establishments, and will employ around 1,030 people.

Carillion interim chief executive Keith Cochrane, said: “The DIO is a key support services customer with whom we have built a long-term partnership. These contracts play a critical role in supporting our armed forces and they have a number of unique aspects that require a specific, regional focus. They will enable us to create further training and employment opportunities for ex-services personnel in support of our commitment to the Armed Forces Corporate Covenant.”