Interserve plc : Interserve to gain from outsourced prison services

26 January 2012

Support and construction services provider Interserve will benefit from increased opportunities and good margins as the UK's prison and justice services are opened up to competition from the private sector, the company's Chief Executive Adrian Ringrose said on Tuesday.

Interserve was recently included in the ministry of justice's framework for the provision of custodial services across its prison estate as the department looks to improve efficiency by outsourcing many of its functions.

Adrian Ringrose told Dow Jones Newswires a sizeable proportion of the ministry's GBP7 billion to GBP8 billion budget will now be spent on contracting private-sector firms to carry out services previously run by the government.

"Services that have always been with the public sector are now being opened up to competition," Ringrose said. "It's a great opportunity for us."

As part of the ministry's move, Interserve has successfully won the right to bid for contracts at three UK prisons, opening up the possibility of making bids on the 120 prisons in the country still run by the public sector.

The contracts start in 2013 and Ringrose is confident of the positive impact on the business, despite the risks that come from working with offenders.

"We expect reasonable rates of return from the prison contracts, but the margins are reflective of the risks," he said. "Payment will come by results and the test will be to reduce reoffending rates."

For further information please contact:
Hannah Simpkins 020 7902 2000
[e-mail]
External Marketing Manager, Interserve

About Interserve
Interserve's vision is to be the Trusted Partner of all our stakeholders. We are one of the world's foremost support services and construction companies, operating in the public and private sectors in the UK and internationally. We offer advice, design, construction, equipment and facilities management services for society's infrastructure. Interserve is based in the UK, has revenue of £1.9 billion and a workforce of nearly 50,000 people worldwide.