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| Type | Public (LSE: SRP) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1929 |
| Headquarters | Hook, England, UK |
| Key people | Kevin Beeston, Chairman Christopher Hyman, CEO |
| Industry | Business Services |
| Revenue | £3,123.5 million (2008) |
| Operating income | £156.0 million (2008) |
| Net income | £99.6 million (2008) |
| Employees | 40,000 (2008) |
| Website | www.serco.com |
Serco Group plc (LSE: SRP) is a business services company based in Hook, North Hampshire in the United Kingdom. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
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History
Serco was founded in 1929 as a United Kingdom division of the Radio Corporation of America and initially provided services to the cinema industry.[1] It changed its name to Serco in 1987[1] and has been a London Stock Exchange listed company since 1988.[1]
On 29 December 2008, Serco completed its acquisition of SI International.[2]
Operations
The Guardian has called Serco "probably the biggest company you've never heard of."[3]
Serco operates in various sectors:
- Transport: Serco manages the Docklands Light Railway[4] and Woolwich Ferry[5] in London (both for Transport for London) and Great Southern Railways in Australia.[6] Serco also has a joint venture with NedRailways, the UK arm of Dutch national rail operator Nederlandse Spoorwegen, to operate passenger trains in the UK: Serco-NedRailways has a 25 year concession for Merseyrail in Liverpool and operates Northern Rail services in the north of England.[7] Serco also operates the Dubai Metro.[8] Serco formerly operated the Copenhagen Metro with Ansaldo STS, until selling its share with effect from 1 January 2008.[9] In addition, Serco Rail Operations operates infrastructure monitoring trains in the UK.[10] Serco's Home Affairs division, run by Tom Riall, also operates speed camera systems throughout the UK and designs, writes and tests the software that controls the matrix message signs, signals, emergency roadside telephones (SOS) and traffic monitoring on England's motorway network including the National Traffic Control Centre.[11]
- Science: Serco manages the UK's National Physical Laboratory.[12]
- Detention: Serco supplies electronic tagging devices for offenders and asylum seekers.[13] In Britain, Serco runs four prisons, a Young Offenders Institution and a Secure Training Centre.[14] It also operates two Immigration Removal Centres.[15][16] Serco is also responsible for transporting and detaining prisoners at several Law Courts across the country.[17] In addition, Serco runs Hunfeld Prison in Germany.[18] In Australia Serco runs Acacia Prison in Western Australia.[19]
- Defence: Serco holds defence contracts worldwide including the UK Government’s first modern outsourced contract for the operation and maintenance of the UK Ballistic Missile Early Warning System at RAF Fylingdales;[20] contracts are also held for the operation and maintenance of RAF Brize Norton,[21] RAF Halton[22] and RAF Northolt[22] in the UK and RAF Ascension Island in the mid-Atlantic.[22] Serco also provides support services to garrisons in Australia.[23] Serco also manages many aspects of operations at the Defence College of Management and Technology in Shrivenham.[24] Serco is one of three partners in the consortium which manages the Atomic Weapons Establishment.[25]
- Royal Navy marine services: Serco Denholm, a joint venture with the Denholm Group, is responsible for fleet support at the three main UK naval bases, HMNB Portsmouth, HMNB Devonport and HMNB Clyde.[26]
- Aviation: Serco provides air traffic control services at international airports in Dubai, Bahrain and at some smaller airports in the USA.[27] Since 2004 Serco have also had £5m a year from the US government to manage airports in Iraq.[28]
- Health: Serco provide facilities management services at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital,[29] Leicester Royal Infirmary,[30] and Wishaw General Hospital.[31]
- Education: Serco holds a 10 year contract with Bradford City Council to manage and operate the local education authority,[32] providing education support services to the City's schools, and similarly manages and operates Walsall[33] and Stoke-on-Trent local education authorities.[34] Serco is also the provider of a Student information system, Facility, used in schools and colleges in several countries.[35]
- Drivers' licensing: Serco, through a purpose-made division Serco DES, holds a 10 year, $114 million contract with the Province of Ontario to operate the province's DriveTest driver examination centres. These tests include vision, road, and knowledge tests for all persons seeking to become a licensed automobile driver in the province.[36]
- Leisure: Serco operates a number of leisure centres across the UK including the Manchester Aquatics Centre, the aquatic venue for the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.[37]
- Serco also administers a number of publicly funded websites in the UK, including the Business Link website.[38]
- Serco Solutions presently run the IT Infrastructure for the London Borough of Southwark winning the 5 year tender in 2007.[39]
Serco operates in Continental Europe, the Middle East, the Asia Pacific region and North America, but the majority of its turnover still comes from the UK.
References
- ^ a b c Serco: History
- ^ Serco wraps up SI International buy
- ^ 'Happy, Touchy Feely and Driven by God', Jane Martinson, The Guardian, 24/02/06
- ^ Transport for London: Franchise
- ^ Serco to operate Woolwich Ferry Services
- ^ Australia's Great Train Journeys
- ^ Department for Transport: Serco NedRailways announced as Preferred Bidder
- ^ Serco preferred bidder for Dubai metro operations contract, Railway Gazette International 2007-07-01, retrieved 2008-03-15
- ^ Milanese run København Metro, Railway Gazette International 2008-01-08, retrieved 2008-03-15
- ^ Serco website - rail operations
- ^ Serco to run Britain's first traffic control unit
- ^ Managing NPL
- ^ Home Office: Electronic tagging
- ^ Corporate Watch: Virtual Private Prisons
- ^ Home Office: Yarls Wood
- ^ Home Office: Colnbrook
- ^ Wackenhut Corrections wins prisoner escort contract
- ^ Prison Privatisation
- ^ Department of Corrective Services: Acacia Security Management Contract
- ^ PFI deals help Serco to record order book of £10bn
- ^ Airport of Embarkation
- ^ a b c Serco Business Review Page 20
- ^ Serco Sodexho and the real story about work choices
- ^ Defence Academy
- ^ BNFL consortium seeks 15 year extension to Aldermaston contract
- ^ "Marine Services". Serco. http://www.serco.com/markets/defence/marineservices.asp. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
- ^ Serco awarded Federal Air Traffic Control Contract in US
- ^ Serco wins Iraqi Air Traffic Deal
- ^ Private Finance Initiative - Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital
- ^ Leicester Royal Infirmary: Hospital Cleaning
- ^ So you thought it was Tony and Gordon in charge?
- ^ Bradford: Concerns about education privatisation
- ^ Chris Hyman: Can Serco take over the World?
- ^ Best school in town and still they want to close it
- ^ A window opens on pupils' progress
- ^ Government of Ontario
- ^ Serco picks agency to help it beef up marketing
- ^ Enlightenlive
- ^ Southwark voluntary and community groups to receive PCs from serco
External links
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