A £200m deal to build and operate the new Ministry of Defence staff college in Oxfordshire has been signed, saving the taxpayer over £55m.
The college will be built and run by Defence Management (Watchfield), a consortium company made up of John Laing Investments and Serco Investments.
It is the first MoD deal with private industry - known as a Private Finance Initiative - to combine a major building project with service delivery.
The Joint Service Command and Staff College at Shrivenham, due to open by September 2000, will provide senior officers from the UK and overseas with a world-class military training base.
John Laing Construction will design and build the college and Serco will run it for 28 years.
The work is expected to lead to a boom for local firms involved in the housing, groundworks, concrete, windows, bricklaying and building services part of the project.
Defence Secretary George Robertson said: "Opting for the PFI option saves the taxpayer over £55m in cash over 28 years.
"This is the difference between PFI and the publicly-funded option." John Laing chairman Sir Martin Laing said the signing of the contract was the culmination of a tremendous effort on the part of all those involved.
He said: "This is another step in the company's strategy to build a balanced portfolio of PFI investments across a number of commercial sectors.
"Laing is committed to securing PFI opportunities to deliver sustainable long-term returns and is delighted to be investing in the project."
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