Babcock in pole position for London Fire Brigade contract

FTSE-100 engineering services group rounds of record week with £800m deal to maintain the capital's fire engines.

A fire engine outside Warwickshire Fire & Rescue Service Headquarters, Leamington Spa
Babcock said it will maintain a fleet of 500 vehicles and 50,000 pieces of specialist equipment Credit: Photo: PA

Engineering contractor Babcock International has rounded off the most important week in its history by securing an £800m contract to manage the London Fire Brigade’s vehicle fleet.

Babcock said it will maintain the fleet of 500 vehicles and 50,000 pieces of specialist equipment for the UK’s largest fire and rescue service for the next 21 years, starting on November 13.

The deal is the latest in a string of major announcements for the defence, support services and engineering group after it was named preferred bidder on Britain’s largest ever outsourcing contract on Monday, the £7bn decommissioning of the Magnox fleet of nuclear reactors across the UK.

Only six days earlier the 123-year-old defence and engineering group agreed a £1.6bn deal, the largest ever for the company, to buy Avincis, the helicopter operator for emergency services.

Avincis provides police and air ambulance services in the UK, Norway, Spain and Italy and the deal completes a long held ambition of Peter Rogers, chief executive, to expand operations overseas.

Babcock is also bidding to buy the MoD's military equipment maintenance arm, which analysts have estimated could be worth up to £3bn in revenue over 10 years.

Shares in Babcock closed up 3pc to £13.88.