Blow for Serco as Yorkshire prisons remain in public hands November 22, 2013 Troubled outsourcing company Serco has been dealt a fresh blow as the government confirmed that Yorkshire prisons Hatfield, Moorland and Lindholm will continue to be run by the public sector. Serco had been in the leading position to win contracts for the institutions, should they be privatised. The firm remains under criminal investigation, and yesterday [...]
Serco UK and Europe boss steps down to accelerate renewal plan November 21, 2013 OUTSOURCING firm Serco said yesterday its head of UK and Europe would step down as the firm, currently under criminal investigation, looks to win back the trust of the UK government. In a statement the firm announced UK and Europe operations chief Andrew White will take over from Jeremy Stafford on an interim basis. “Serco [...]
Serco boss steps down after tagging scandal November 21, 2013 One of security company Serco's chiefs, Jeremy Stafford, has decided to step down as chief executive of UK & Europe as the company "has been working hard to refresh its relationship with central government in the UK". Andrew White, chief operating officer of UK & Europe, will take over the role on an interim basis. [...]
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 [...]