Interserve Regulatory News (IRV)

25 May 2012 07:00

INTERSERVE CONSORTIUM REACHES FINANCIAL CLOSE ON £150m WEST YORKSHIRE POLICE PFI CONTRACT

An Interserve-led consortium has reached financial close with West Yorkshire Police Authority and West Yorkshire Police on the contract to design, build, finance and operate two new divisional headquarters (DHQs), custody suites and a specialist operational training facility. The signing of the contract comes less than two months after the consortium was appointed preferred bidder.

The DHQs and their custody facilities will be located in Leeds and Normanton while the training centre, which will include state-of-the-art firearms training ranges, driver training and public order training facilities, will be adjacent to the force's Operational Support Division in Wakefield. The training facilities will enable officers to `train for reality' with greater flexibility and realism than ever before.

Interserve, which also builds and manages military training facilities for the MoD in the Defence Training Estate, will provide facilities management (FM) services at all the locations for 25 years after completing the construction. It is anticipated that the Normanton DHQ will be available by the end of 2013, with the training centre and Leeds DHQ following in the first half of 2014. The total design and construction cost will be £100 million and the FM cost will be approximately £50 million over the 25-year period.

Interserve and consortium partner Equitix, the infrastructure developer and fund manager, will each invest £4.3 million in the project.

Adrian Ringrose, Chief Executive of Interserve, comments:

"These police facilities represent a key element of regional infrastructure, so we're obviously proud the Authority has entrusted Interserve with creating and supporting them. We're already heavily involved in the region, having worked here for many years. We've built facilities such as the Winter Gardens in Sheffield and the flood defences in Ripon, and we have a 10-year strategic partnership with Leeds City Council through which we're constructing and managing a number of schools and other amenities. Recently we acquired the Leeds-based welfare-to-work business BEST, through which we're helping the long-term unemployed in South and West Yorkshire back into work."

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police Authority says:

"The construction and operation of these new facilities will provide a timely boost for the local economy. At least 85 per cent of subcontracts will be awarded to local companies, and at least 65 per cent of construction staff will live locally. Interserve has also made detailed commitments to support skills and training for young people, including a firm commitment to support 85 young people across West Yorkshire to access apprenticeships."

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For further information please contact:

Giles Scott 0118 960 2307 Head of Corporate Communications Sam Turvey 020 7379 5151 Maitland 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 and is listed in the FTSE 250 index. We have gross revenue of £2.3 billion and a workforce of over 50,000 people worldwide. Website: www.interserve.com.

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