Babcock wins contract to service London’s 500-strong fleet of fire engines

By Peter Campbell for the Daily Mail

Updated: 20:05 EDT, 1 April 2014

A contract to service London’s 500-strong fleet of fire engines has gone to Babcock in the second major win for the group in two days.

The FTSE engineer will also manage 50,000 pieces of specialist equipment for the capital’s fire service starting from November.

The contract is thought to be worth up to £20m and will last for 21 years.

Best foot forward: Babcock's contract is thought to be worth up to £20m and will last for 21 years

Shares rose 3 per cent to finish the day 40p higher at 1387p.

‘We are delighted to have been chosen as preferred bidder for this contract, which reflects our ability to provide market-leading support to the emergency services,’ said chief executive Peter Rogers.

It comes a day after Babcock was selected as preferred bidder for the £7bn job of decommissioning Britain’s ageing nuclear power stations.

Babcock will decommission 12 sites, including ten current nuclear plants and two other research facilities.

The work, some of the largest ever tendered out by the Government, marked a major coup as the firm beat off existing provider Magnox as  well as fierce competition from  Rolls-Royce and Serco.