As part of the contract ESS, a defence, offshore and remote catering and support services provider that is part of Compass UK & Ireland, will be providing retail services generating “tens of millions of pounds” in turnover.
Under the contract, which starts on May 1, ESS will provide a range of service provisions to more than 15,000 customers over 12 MoD sites, predominantly Royal Naval establishments, across the south west of England.
The project is part of a strategic move by the DIO towards more geographically based multi-activity contracts across its estate and is the first of the next generation of soft facilities management contracts to be awarded.
The contract will see ESS deliver catering, mess and hotel services, cleaning, waste management, stores and logistics, motor transport and personnel and administrative support to the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines, the Army and the Royal Air Force.
ESS already successfully operates in a number of other MoD contracts, including the Royal Navy’s Fleet Accommodation Centre in Plymouth.
Chris Garside, ESS managing director, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to be awarded this contract – ESS has built a successful relationship with the MoD elsewhere and it is a privilege and an honour to play our part in supporting the nation’s forces.
“ESS works closely with our clients to deliver innovation, choice and value, providing a solution which supports the wellbeing of our customers. We look forward to delivering a best-in-class service every day under this new contract.”
A spokesman for the Defence Infrastructure Organisation said: “We selected ESS following an in-depth tendering process, which included a number of quality suppliers. Their submission bid fully met the requirements as laid out in the evaluation criteria. We look forward to working with them.”