£26.7 million engine support contract for Oxfordshire company

Business News

By Nicky Godding

18 June 2020

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A £26.7 million contract has been awarded to supply and maintain outboard and inboard motors fitted to the MOD's small boats fleet.

Bicester-based EP Barrus secured the seven-year contract for the upkeep, update and supply of engines fitted to more than 1,100 craft.

The contract covers boats within the current MOD in-service fleet for craft under 25m, including Rigid Inflatable Boats (RIBs), the Mexeflote landing-raft system powered by the Thrustmaster propulsion unit, workboats, and planned future craft.

Defence Minister Jeremy Quin said: "Our maritime industry continues to grow from strength to strength. This contract will secure an essential capability for our Armed Forces and support over 40 quality engineering jobs in Bicester plus many more throughout the UK."

The contract will support operations in the UK and overseas involving the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, British Army, Ministry of Defence Police, and Cadets.

The contract will directly support 40 jobs within Barrus’s Engineering Centre, as well as a further 80 jobs across the UK supply chain that will benefit from the contract. In addition, this contract secures EP Barrus’s graduate programme in Oxfordshire and the future roles for its young engineering students.

James Melia, Project Manager for the government's Defence, Equipment & Support (DE&S) Boats Team, said: "Boats are an essential capability of the UK Armed Forces and are used for many different operations around the world ensuring that our Navy has the reach it needs to protect our interests around the globe.

We are committed to ensuring that engines are effectively managed through every stage of their life cycle and our partnership with EP Barrus will provide critical support to this.

DE&S is proud to maintain excellent working relationships with EP Barrus, a valued industry supplier and we look forward to continuing to work together to support our front line with the equipment they need while also maintaining vital British skills and jobs.

By Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe.

After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts.

She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.