17 Mar 2005

An Interserve / Southern Electric Contracting (SEC) joint venture, PriDE, has been awarded the Ministry of Defence (MoD)'s Prime Contract covering London and the south-east of England.

The contract, which was awarded to PriDE by Defence Estates, the agency set up to manage the MoD's estate, is worth approximately £400 million over an initial seven years with an MoD option of a three-year extension. Operations will begin in April 2005.

South East Prime is one of five long-term contracts being rolled out across the UK by the MoD, which will employ Prime Contracting principles to procure the majority of its construction and maintenance services.

Both Interserve and SEC are already involved at various locations within the South East Prime area and their complementary skills will enable PriDE to mobilise operations relatively quickly. The principal activities will be:

• Land and property management
• Lifecycle maintenance
• Response maintenance
• Help desk
• Environmental management
• Condition improvement of buildings and facilities
• Provision of Management Information Systems
• New works projects

Around 1,000 people will be employed on the contract which covers 95 locations throughout the south-east including RAF High Wycombe, RAF Northolt, Sandhurst, Chelsea Barracks, Horseguards, Buckingham Palace, St James's Palace, Cavalry Barracks and the Duke of York's Royal Military School.

Tim Payne, SEC's Managing Director, said, "This is a clear demonstration of Defence Estates' confidence in our ability to deliver major M&E projects, and we are delighted to have been asked to become involved.

"SEC and Interserve are fully committed to the principles of collaborative working and I am confident that, using our combined skills, the PriDE team can make this project a success." 

Sam Maroli, Managing Director of Interservefm, commented, "There are not many contracts of this size and complexity out there and it is a testament to Interserve's and SEC's capabilities that Defence Estates has awarded us with the responsibility for South East Prime. We worked hard to win the contract and shall now work just as hard in delivering the services."