G4S and Serco sorry for contract failure November 20, 2013 OUTSOURCING groups G4S and Serco, which are under a criminal investigation after they overcharged the government on an electronic tagging contract, said yesterday they were working to clean up their act. Executives at the firms, as well as bosses from Capita and Atos, were speaking at a Public Accounts Committee hearing on the value of [...]
Government turns down G4S’s £24m offer for lag tag errors November 19, 2013 G4S HAS apologised and offered to give the government a credit note for £24.1m after mistakenly charging for electronic tags on criminals who were released years before, or already in jail, or dead. However, the Ministry of Justice has so far spurned the offer, and is taking advice from lawyers and auditors to try and [...]
Serco group pulls out of military bid November 19, 2013 THE UK government has said it will continue exploring plans to put its £159bn military equipment programme in the hands of a private firm, even after one of the two consortiums left in the running pulled out of the competition. US engineering firm CH2M Hill, which was leading a team with Serco Group and WS Atkins, [...]
Best of the Brokers for 20 November 2013 November 19, 2013 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com QUINTAIN Barclays keeps its overweight rating on the London property developer but has trimmed its target price by 2p to 130p following the sale of its Greenwich project. The broker thinks the growing demand for homes in the city will play in Quintain’s [...]
Pindar to leave Capita after 26 years at the top November 18, 2013 OUTSOURCING firm Capita yesterday said its longstanding chief executive Paul Pindar will step down next year, after 26 years with the company. He will be succeeded by the current deputy chief executive and deputy operations chief Andy Parker, effective from 1 March 2014. Pindar, who has been at the helm of the FTSE 100-listed firm [...]
MPs to grill G4S and Serco amid criminal probe November 18, 2013 EXECUTIVES from G4S and Serco will be interrogated by a committee of MPs on Wednesday, as scandals surrounding government contracts continue to blight the two FTSE 100 outsourcing firms. Alastair Lyons, chairman of Serco will attend the hearing, alongside Ashley Almanza, chief executive of G4S. Paul Pindar, chief executive of Capita and Ursula Morgenstern, regional [...]
Serco’s shares plummet after profit warning November 14, 2013 SERCO, the outsourcing firm at the centre of a string of investigations over government contracts, saw its bad run continue yesterday when it issued a profit warning for 2013 and 2014, sending its shares down 17 per cent. Serco blamed “challenging market conditions” and the government contracts debacle for cutting into profits and warned that [...]
Serco shares plummet as contractor faces lower profits in wake of government investigation November 14, 2013 Serco has warned that profits for 2013 may be lower than expected and earnings for 2014 will be lower than 2013. The company has suffered a sharp fall in its share price of over 10 per cent this morning. Serco's problems have been magnified due to an investigation launched by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 14 November 2013 November 13, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Cameron calls for cuts in phone bills David Cameron is urging mobile phone companies to give customers a better deal as the prime minister fights to win ground in the battle over the rising cost of living. Downing Street has instructed Maria Miller and her officials in the Department for Culture, Media and [...]
Firms hired by the state face behaviour tests November 12, 2013 PRIVATE firms working for the government must face inspections and audits to make sure they meet high standards of behaviour, the National Audit Office (NAO) said in a set of recommendations out today. Although firms often promise to behave well, the NAO believes the only way to make sure “the companies are not paying lip [...]