Executive Summary
Serco is a service company and has been delivering essential public services for more than 40 years. More than 40,000 employees deliver mission-critical services to government and private clients in over 30 countries, including health, education, science, local government, transport, justice and defence. Serco has grown substantially every year since flotation on the London Stock Exchange in 1988. It has a forward order book that stands at a record £14.6bn. The UK provides some 74% of our business and continues to be an exciting market for us.[1]
Company History
- Serco began life in 1929 when Radio Corporation of America formed a UK subsidiary, RCA Services Limited, to support the country’s growing cinema industry.
- In the early 1960s the company won a piece of work that was to shape its future direction – a maintenance contract for the UK Ballistic Missile Early Warning System at the Royal Air Force (RAF) base at Fylingdales. This expanded into a contract to operate the technical facilities at the base and provide comprehensive support to the RAF.
- Following a management buyout in 1987, RCA Services Limited was renamed Serco Limited. In 1988, the company achieved a full listing on the London Stock Exchange as Serco Group plc.
Current Events
On 30 December 2008, Serco announced that it had completed its acquisition of SI International, a provider of information services, technology, and network solutions to the US government. SI International will be combined with Serco’s existing North American business and will enhance Serco’s ability to deliver integrated solutions to the US$290 billion US federal government services market.
Business Model
Serco undertakes a diverse range of activityies:
- operate traffic management systems covering more than 17,500kms of roads worldwide
- provide a secure computer and software support service to all 66 UK law enforcement agencies
- manage 192,000 square miles of airspace in five countries
- employ 5000 scientists
- manage education authorities on behalf of local governments
- provide defence support services worldwide
- transport more than 275,000 passengers everyday on our driverless trains on London's Docklands Light Railway.
Segments
- Civil Government–In home affairs, our activities range from managing prisons to electronic monitoring of offenders and developing intelligencesystems. We also have a growing homeland security business. We provide education services to children in Walsall and Bradfordand have an expanding role in children’s services. In health, we provide occupational health services, support services to hospitals,…
