24 Oct 2006

Interserve, the services, maintenance and building group, and its consortium partner O'Hare & McGovern Limited have reached financial close on the PPP contract to create and operate the new Holy Cross College in Strabane, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.

Interserve is already providing services at three educational PPP projects in the province: St Genevieve's High School in Belfast and two colleges of further education in Omagh and Dungannon.

Holy Cross will be a large, co educational school with capacity for 1,800 12 18 year old pupils. Interserve will be responsible for facilities management once the college opens in 2008, providing services worth approximately £16 million over the contract's 25-year operational lifetime.

Interserve's services will include:
- caretaking
- estates management
- security
- helpdesk
- grounds maintenance

Interserve Investments Plc will manage the group's equity investment in the PFI special purpose company, representing 50 per cent of the total. The other equity partner is O'Hare & McGovern.

Adrian Ringrose, Chief Executive of Interserve, said, "This latest contract award in Northern Ireland demonstrates the success of the partnership we have formed with O'Hare McGovern and the Department of Education. Interserve now has a PFI education portfolio of 38 schools and colleges across nine signed projects in the UK with a total population of 25,000 pupils. We are looking forward to making our contribution to the education of the children of Strabane."