LONDON (2 April 2004) — Kilpatrick Stockton announces today that it advised Babcock International Group plc on the £480m contract for South West Prime.
The contract has been awarded by MoD to Debut Services (South West) Limited, a joint venture between Babcock and Bovis Lend Lease. The contract relates to the provision of property maintenance and future capital works schemes across the MoD estate in the South West of the UK.
The Regional Prime Contract South West will start on 1st June 2004 for a seven-year period, after which the MoD has an option to extend the contract for a further three years.
The contract is for support to MoD Defence Estates and includes Royal Navy, Army, Royal Air Force and DLO establishments in an area ranging from Gloucester in the North, Portsmouth in the South, to Culdrose in the West. The contract forms a central part of the MoD’s initiative to provide a higher quality estate.
The value of the contract to Babcock is in excess of £480m (£30m more than originally expected). Babcock will provide a comprehensive building and infrastructure maintenance service, geared to improving the overall condition of the estate. Bovis Lend Lease will manage the capital works programme.
Speaking on behalf of Debut Services (South West) Limited, Kevin Thomas, Managing Director, Babcock Infrastructure Services, said:
“We are delighted to achieve a successful close to the Preferred Bidder stage of the project in under five months. This is a significant achievement and represents considerable effort from the entire project team. We look forward to moving ahead with our mobilisation activities to enable the rollout of prime contracting across the South West region. This will deliver improved value for money and in turn a progressive improvement to the defence estate in the South West.”
