£1.6 billion investment to upgrade UK Defence estate

Four new contracts worth £1.6-billion have been awarded to industry delivering crucial building maintenance and hard facilities repair services across the UK defence estate.

Forming part of the first phase of the Future Defence Infrastructure Services (FDIS) programme, the contracts cover 31,000 units and will support facilities at more than 400 Defence sites across the UK, including RAF Lossiemouth, Catterick, Andover, and Britannia Royal Naval College.

The contracts awarded will create and sustain thousands of jobs across the UK, including more than 340 in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The investment will also ensure that small and medium enterprises across the UK are supported through the Defence supply chain.

The seven-year contracts include:

• Mitie: £160-million for facilities across Scotland and Northern Ireland

• Vivo: £558-million for the central region of the UK including Wales, the Midlands and the North of England. Vivo has also been awarded a £336 million contract for facilities delivery in the South West of England

• Vinci: £423-million for the South East of England

Facilities management covers maintenance of defence buildings, accommodation and training facilities across the UK estate, including plumbing and electrical works, and offering general infrastructural repair services.

Minister for Defence Procurement Jeremy Quin said:

Our people are at the heart of what we do and these contracts will deliver key services and facilities management for our Armed Forces personnel based around the country.

Helping to modernise and transform the Defence estate, the programme will also support thousands of jobs across the UK.

As announced by the Prime Minister last November, Defence has received an increase in funding of over £24-billion across the next four years. Further outlined in the Defence Command Paper, this investment reaffirms the MOD’s commitment to maximise the use of Defence estate and prioritise funding for critical infrastructure.

Defence Infrastructure Organisation Chief Operating Officer (DIO), David Brewer said:

We are passionate about the work we do every day to support the armed forces and their families across the whole of the UK.      The Future Defence Infrastructure Contracts for the Built Estate represent an increased investment in maintenance by the MOD and will offer improved response times and increase the amount of planned maintenance.

I am pleased to announce the successful suppliers. I look forward to working with these industry leading organisations to continue the work we are doing to improve the service we deliver for our Servicemen and women.

The Built Estate contracts will create and sustain thousands of jobs and protect local supply chains throughout the UK.

DIO is committed to building a broader and more diverse supply base, working with both larger companies and SMEs through our supply chain to support local industry and deliver the facilities that the military need to live, work, train and deploy.

DIO is committed to improving the services it delivers to its Armed Forces customers and the FDIS Programme is doing this by incorporating customer insight into plans, digitalising services and processes where possible, and building stronger relationships with suppliers.

As part of FDIS, these contracts are the first of 10 that will be awarded between now and 2022. The later phases of the FDIS programme will see further contracts awarded for Accommodation Services and the management and maintenance of the UK Defence Training Estate.