Staff have transferred over to the investment company

Carillion has bought the support services and facilities management business of infrastructure investment group John Laing, which managed parks, libraries and other public services such as cemetaries and allotments for Hounslow Council.

The deal for John Laing Integrated Services (JLIS), which has a turnover of almost £65m, took place on Friday, 18 October 2013.

Hounslow Council was the first public authority to outsource management of its library and culture portfolio to a private sector organisation. The company was tasked with making efficiencies across several areas including library staffing, book purchases and hours of operation and building maintenance of the borough's eleven libraries.

Carillion is a integrated support services company with a portfolio of Public Private Partnership projects and extensive construction capabilities.

Up to 1,500 staff employed by the £65m turnover John Laing Integrated Services have transferred over to Carillion. The Carillion Group had annual revenue in 2012 of some £4.4 billion, employs around 40,000 people and operates across the UK, in the Middle East and Canada.

Adrian Ewer, chief executive of John Laing, said: "Our decision to dispose of JLIS underlines our commitment to our principal investment and asset management activities.

“JLIS has made significant progress over the last few years, but it no longer fits within our core strategy. We are confident that under its new ownership, the business will see future growth within the public sector and benefit from being a part of an integrated support services company.

John Laing said it could now continue its strategic focus on its core business of bidding for, investing in and managing infrastructure projects

Carillion has four business segments, support services including facilities managment, road maintenance and utility services; Public Private Partnerships; Middle East construction and construction consultancies, civil engineering etc in the UK and Canada.

A spokesman for Hounslow council said “The sale of John Laing Integrated Services (JLIS) to Carillion Plc does not affect the JLIS service contracts with the council in any way. It simply means these will now be carried out by Carillion under the same terms as before, and we will continue to monitor their performance to ensure they are delivering the services we expect.”

October 22, 2013