£240 Million Seven-Year Contract Saves £136 Million

The UK MoD’s fleet of bulldozers, cranes and forklifts is to be refreshed under a £240 million (€269 million) seven-year maintenance, management and support contract awarded to AmeyBriggs, the MoD announced on 28 August. AmeyBriggs is a new joint venture between Amey plc and Briggs Defence, a specialist division of Briggs Equipment.

The fleet – known as MITER – is a valuable asset in peacetime activities and operations around the world. In recent years, the equipment has been used to help with recovery following the devastation caused by Hurricanes Irma and Dorian in the Caribbean, during major flooding incidents in the UK and in support of the military response to COVID-19, loading and off-loading vital medical supplies from distribution centres.

Vehicles in the MITER fleet include excavators, bulldozers, cranes and forklift trucks, meeting the MoD’s need for earth-moving, engineer construction and mechanical handling capabilities.

Offering £136 million in savings over the next 10 years, the new contract will also sustain jobs across the UK. To manage the contract, around 180 staff and supply chain partners will be transferred into AmeyBriggs from the current support teams which brings together a wealth of knowledge, skills and experience.

Negotiated by Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), the procurement arm of the MoD, the award brings three existing contracts – Defence Mechanical Handling Equipment, Protected Engineering Equipment and C-Vehicle capability – brought under a single umbrella contract. This is part of the ‘Whole Force’ approach, which places equipment, personnel for military tasks, new information systems and infrastructure support under one arrangement. AmeyBriggs will not only manage and maintain this key equipment, but will also provide support for military personnel to ensure safe and effective use.

“This has been a culmination of five years hard work with a small dedicated project team assisted with subject matter experts and a very good working relationship with the Army as lead customer.
This hard work and collaborative working has resulted in the project being able to declare a £136 million efficiency for DE&S and the Army, a really great achievement,” commented Simon Herrington, who led the DE&S team.

“We have taken three previous overlapping mechanisms for provision of Mechanical Handling Equipment, Construction and Protected Plant and melded them into one to achieve efficiencies […] Moreover, we have designed-in contractual innovation and flexibility by integrating a fleet of military, leased and hired equipment; this means we only pay for what we need when we need it, but can scale-up quickly as necessary; we will also benefit from emerging technologies as they develop. Importantly, MITER embraces a ‘Whole Force Approach,’ presenting opportunities for enhancing the skills of both regular and reserve personnel,” explained Maj Gen Simon Hamilton, Army Director Support.

“The successful contract award for MITER is an excellent example of DE&S and industry working closely together to deliver an innovative solution. This will provide the armed forces with a key capability, to deliver operational effect all over the world, on time and at a price that represents great value for money,” observed DE&S Director General (Land), Chris Bushell.