10 Sep 2003

Interserve, the support services group, and its consortium partner O’Hare & McGovern Limited have reached financial close on the dual PFI agreement to design, build and operate two colleges of further education in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. The two contracts, managed through a single PFI bidding process by the Department for Employment and Learning, are worth £70 million in design, construction and operational fees.

O’Hare & McGovern will build the colleges, Omagh College and Dungannon College in County Tyrone, which will have a combined capacity of approximately 6,000 students. Interserve will then undertake the 30-year facilities management contract worth approximately £30m over its lifetime. Interim services are expected to begin in the spring of 2004 with the colleges becoming fully operational by the beginning of 2006. Services to be provided include:

Caretaking
Cleaning
Building maintenance
Portering
Catering
Grounds maintenance

Adrian Ringrose, Interserve Plc Chief Executive, commented, ‘This contract win, following our success with St Genevieve’s School, both demonstrates the strength of our partnership in Northern Ireland and underlines our position as one of the major PFI players. We now have 19 PFI/PPP contracts in our portfolio across a broad range of sectors.’

Interserve and O’Hare and McGovern are taking equity stakes in the project. Interserve’s investment will be managed by Interserve PFI Holdings Limited. The same partnership won the PFI contract for the 1000-pupil St Genevieve’s School in Belfast, where Interserve has been providing services, scheduled to run for a 25 year period, since completion of the school in March 2002.