Serco Survives PLUS New New York and Old NEC Deals

• Content
• Facilities Management
• Serco Survives PLUS New New York and Old NEC Deals

24 February 2016 | Updated 01 January 1970

Not Quite Full Circle for Serco

A better performance in 2015 has helped lift the gloom for Serco but Rupert Soames, CEO admits damage to reputation has still to be repaired.

While pre-tax losses were down from the disastrous £990.5 million in 2014 to £64.9 million last year, the feeling at the Serco press conference on February 25 was that much work had yet to be done to achieve a full return to confidence.

“Serco has achieved a great deal in 2015 – we have a significantly stronger balance sheet with materially less debt, we have successfully disposed of the majority of our offshore BPO business, reduced costs, improved our internal reporting processes, recruited new management, improved the position on several of our largest loss-making contracts and strengthened our pipeline,” declared Rupert Soames, Serco Group CEO. 

However there were a number of caveats he tossed into what appeared to be a successful retrieval of performance in 2015. “Looking ahead and in line with our plan, we expect revenues and profits to decline in 2016 as a result of the disposal of our private sector BPO business and contract attrition. We have four priorities this year: Further improve the operational and financial performance of our contracts; build our new business pipeline; reduce our costs and improve and embed our new management information systems.”

The underlying performance of Serco has shown a degree of reassurance for shareholders who had witnessed the values of their investment plunge after a series of scandals and poor fulfilment of contracts. Soames was able to report that there was a £1.8 billion total value of signed contracts, representing more than 700 individual customer orders of which 10 were worth more than £50 million each. In the pipeline of larger new bid opportunities there had been increases by approximately £1.5 billion to £6.5 billion.

Sir Roy Gardner, Chairman, Serco Group declared his satisfaction but warned: "There is much still to do to complete our transformation and restore Serco to appropriate growth and returns and doing so while ensuring we meet the highest standards of operational performance, corporate governance, integrity and business ethic”.

Picture:   Rupert Soames, CEO, Serco – “Serco has achieved a great deal in 2015”

New New York

New York's Verint Systems is a global provider of software and hardware for the security, surveillance and business intelligence community. It has appointed international facilities management company, Macro to provide integrated services for three years and manage the supply chain.

The appointment has seen Macro mobilise a team into Verint’s New York and Georgia locations. The team will also provide support and oversee FM at Verint Systems’s offices in nine other states.

Verint’s Melville recently took on a location new New York. Macro provided both project management and FM support for the move which saw 186 employees relocate into their new 45,000 sq ft headquarters.

Keeping the Faith

CBRE has been reappointed to provide FM services to the NEC Group across its UK portfolio of more than two million sq ft including two high profile arenas.

The NEC Group operates the National Exhibition Centre (NEC), the ICC, Genting Arena (formerly the LG Arena) and the Barclaycard Arena (formerly the NIA) in Birmingham.

The extended agreement also includes support for the VOX Conference Centre located in Resorts World Birmingham, the UK’s largest multi-use retail and leisure facility.

CBRE has been delivering a range of services for the NEC Group since 2012, including M&E, civil engineering, fabric maintenance, postal and automotive garage services alongside technical event services which provide electric, gas, water and waste supplies directly to exhibition stands.

“We have a reputation for exceptional operational delivery in our venues,” declared John Hornby, Chief Operating Officer, NEC Group. “CBRE is an important part of the team ensuring we maintain our high operational standards and we are delighted to extend our relationship with them. We have ambitious plans to develop our business further. Having capable delivery partners such as CBRE working with us will be a significant contributor to our success in delivering against those plans.”

Pictured above and below: The Verint HQ and the NEC in Birmingham

Article written by Brian Shillibeer | Published 24 February 2016

Share

Related Articles