Partner Article

Serco acquires Vertex Public Sector Limited

Serco Group plc have announced the acquisition of Vertex Public Sector Limited, the Cheltenham-based public sector operation of Vertex Data Science.

The acquisition was made for a cash consideration of £55.5m, and will bring new skills and capabilities to Serco.

Vertex provides Business Process Outsourcing services to UK local and central government.

Major customers include Westminster and Thurrock councils, as well as the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (CMEC), and Job Centre Plus.

Its 3,000 employees handle approximately 4.5m citizen interactions a year, through muli-channel contact centres, shared transactional services and ICT services.

A statement from Serco said: “The acquisition considerably increases our market presence and further improves Serco’s position for large scale outsourcing opportunities.

“We expect it to enable us to provide additional services into existing local government customers and to enhance our ability to secure further wide-ranging strategic partnerships such as those achieved with local authorities in Glasgow, Hertfordshire and Peterborough.

“The Vertex operations also bring significant experience and scale to leverage in future opportunities within the central government market, as well as the potential transfer of capabilities to private sector customers.”

Christopher Hyman, Chief Executive of Serco Group plc, added: “This acquisition enhances the range of services we offer to the UK public sector as they seek to reduce costs whilst continuously improving outcomes for citizens.

“We are pleased with the important customer relationships it brings and the opportunity to extend and expand these.

“The newly added skills and capabilities will also help Serco address future prospects in both the local authority and central government markets.

“Following recent significant contract wins, this is another important step for our BPO strategy and the development of our Global Services business.

“This business will have annual revenues of over $1bn and approximately 50,000 employees offering a diverse range of middle and back office services to both public and private sector customers.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .