Serco awarded Belgian Ministry of Defence FM services contract

The contract is valued at €30 million over a 10 year period and was announced at an event hosted by the Belgian Ministry of Defence in Heverlee last week.

This is the first time that the Belgian Ministry of Defence has outsourced the full management of the installations of a military base to a private company and will enable the military to return 61 soldiers to front line military services and concentrate on their core mission.

Serco will provide an integrated range of eleven FM services on the Heverlee and Meerdaal military bases: the maintenance of buildings and infrastructure facilities, accommodation, pest control, winter services, landscaping, cleaning and restoration.  All of these are being co-ordinated through a one-stop help desk and the introduction of innovative catering and ‘Topdesk’ apps for smart phones.  This contract will create 30 new jobs for people recruited from the Leuven region. 

Commenting on the contract award, Colonel Geert Bouchez, Department of Material Resources, who heads the project, said: “This partnership with a private company has enabled us to refocus on our core missions. 61 military personnel have joined the ground teams in charge of territorial security or other military activities. As to the management of the installations, thanks to extensive experience, Serco has managed in a few months what would have taken us years to put in place.”

Miguel Delacroix, General Manager of Serco Belgium said: “We are proud to have been chosen by the Ministry of Defence. This contract allows Serco to bring our many years of defence expertise and experience from around the world to Belgium. Serco provides support to the armed forces of the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia and other NATO partners. We are convinced that this project is the start of a long-term partnership that will bring real added value for the military of the two bases. "