Mitie boosted by summer UK riot response

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Mitie said the outbreak of violence and riots across the UK this summer pushed up first-half revenues, as the government was forced to turn to the outsourcer for “surge response” security services.

The London-listed FTSE 250 conglomerate, a provider of security guards and emergency response teams, said on Tuesday that revenues rose about 13 per cent year on year to £2.4bn during the six months to September.

This was driven by new contract wins as well as a request to “stand up a team at short notice to provide additional security to vulnerable locations throughout the UK, in response to the riots” that took place in August, said Mitie.

Mitie, one of the government’s biggest suppliers, also reported record growth in contract wins and renewals, aided by a £400mn contract to manage HMP Millsike, which will hold up to 1,500 prisoners in Yorkshire after opening next year.

An estimated 29 demonstrations and riots took place across 27 towns and cities in the UK in the wake of false claims that an asylum seeker was responsible for the murder of three children in Southport in late July.

The UK state has meanwhile increasingly turned to large private companies to maintain the country’s security and justice services as public resources come under intense strain.

With the newly appointed Labour government under pressure to contain the riots, dozens of demonstrators have since received prison sentences, despite concerns about the country’s severely overcrowded and dilapidated prisons.

Mitie, which also runs migrant detention centres for the UK government, said in its trading update that revenues were further boosted by higher demand in its immigration escorting services business, as the government also faces political pressure to clamp down on illegal immigration.

The group said the total value of contract wins and renewals rose about 45 per cent year on year to £3.5bn. The contract to manage HMP Millsike was awarded as part of a £4bn prison-expansion programme under the previous Conservative government, which argued that a “mix of public, voluntary and private sector involvement is key to the success of our prisons”.

Although it boosted revenues, the riots did not contribute to the growth in new contracts as this work was part of an existing contract with the Home Office, Mitie said.