According to news reports, Mitie, the well known outsourcer has garnered a eight-year contract worth £180m, to manage immigration centres near Heathrow airport for the UK's Home Office. Thus, the company will be taking over the contract in September to take charge of and oversee the Colnbrook and Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centres, near Heathrow airport, which has 900 detainees a year. With this contract in its kitty, the company will be in charge of a very large part (almost 1/3rd)of the immigration estate of the Justice ministry.
These kinds of deals have helped the company immensely by way of revenue and profit. At present, Mitie provides facilities management services for the nation’s Courts and Tribunal Service in the south of England. But, its new contract to run detention centres may put it in the middle of some of the most controversial areas in government outsourcing -- running detention centres. Its competitors G4S and SERCO got a lot of negative publicity in the way they were charging for their services in running detention centres.
Mitie is also focusing on growth in the healthcare market – caring for the sick, elderly and disabled -- in the UK where it already has a strong presence. In this regard, it bought Complete Group in January for £9m. Out of its total revenue, 64% comes from the private sector. And, it has in the recent past got contracts from the Bank of Ireland, Mitchells & Butlers and Four Seasons Healthcare.
The group company employs 73,000 people in all. And, it has quit from lower-margin businesses such as engineering and construction support.
