Serco and Mears score UK asylum accommodation contracts
The Home Office has awarded its asylum accommodation and support services contracts to Mears and Serco.
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Mears Group
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Mears won three asylum contracts while Serco re-bid for the Home Office's North West contract and picked up a new award in the UK's Midlands, valued at nearly half the project's total £4bn cost.
Gloucester-based Mears expects to receive revenues in excess of £1bn over the ten years of its new contracts in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber.
Chief executive David Miles said: "We are delighted to have secured these contracts having already allocated significant time and resources to this. We will immediately start work on the mobilisation so that we are ready to meet the needs of asylum seekers and their host communities."
Over at Serco, which inked deals for the North West and the Midlands and East of England, the total contract value was estimated to be around £1.9bn over the ten-year term, adding £1.9bn to the group's order book.
Chief executive Rupert Soames said: "This award vindicates our decision to continue to invest in building our capability and expertise in what is an extremely sensitive, complex and nationally important area of public service delivery."
Analysts at Liberum said it was "a material award" for Mears.
As of 1445 GMT, Serco shares had climbed 7.15% to 109.40p, while Mears had shot up 7.37% to 364p.