Serco tight-lipped on rumours of UK and Europe chief’s exit
TROUBLED outsourcing firm Serco was thrown into further turmoil after it emerged yesterday that its UK and Europe chief executive is expected to leave.
The company – which dropped out of the FTSE 100 at the latest quarterly reshuffle – would not confirm Jeremy Stafford’s imminent departure, which was reported by the Sunday Times citing sources.
“I can confirm that Jeremy Stafford is the chief executive of our UK & Europe division and remains so,” a spokesperson told City A.M.
Serco was rocked by allegations of fraud in July, after the justice secretary Chris Grayling accused Serco of overcharging on contracts to tag criminals.
This triggered the Cabinet Office to launch an investigation into Serco’s lucrative government contracts, which is expected to be completed this autumn.
Around a quarter of Serco’s revenue comes from work for the government. It could potentially lose deals including a £1.5bn contract to manage the Atomic Weapons Establishment, the agency that maintains Britain’s nuclear operations, and a £400m agreement to run the Defence Academy.