Creation of a Serco UK & Europe division

Serco, the international service company, announces that it is merging its UK & European operating divisions to create a single business, to be called Serco UK & Europe.  This will combine the two existing divisions – UK Central Government and UK & Europe Local & Regional Government – and will simplify and improve the efficiency of our operations in the region.  Kevin Craven, currently Chief Executive of UK Central Government will be the Chief Executive of Serco UK & Europe. Regretfully, as a consequence of this change, Liz Benison, currently Chief Executive of UK & Europe Local & Regional Government, will leave the Group.

Kevin Craven joined Serco in September 2014, prior to which he was CEO of Balfour Beatty Services, leading a business with 16,000 employees and revenues of over £1.6bn, covering sectors such as facilities management, rail, highways and utilities. Before joining Balfour Beatty, he was the Managing Director for Healthcare, Education & Defence at Aramark, and the Managing Director of Transport & Travel for Sodexo.

Commenting on the change, Serco Group Chief Executive Rupert Soames said: “The move to an integrated UK & Europe operating division will improve the efficiency and capability of our operations and should be seen in the context of our strategy to transform Serco. Over the last three years, our businesses in UK & Europe have significantly improved their service delivery, customer satisfaction and capability, which now enables us to move to a simpler and more efficient structure. In terms of Group organisation, Serco now has four, rather than five, regional businesses serving governments: North America, Middle East, Asia-Pacific and UK & Europe.

“I would like to thank Liz Benison for the enormous contribution she has made leading our Local & Regional Government businesses; she inherited some big operational challenges when she joined in 2014, and has been highly effective at managing them. She has been a valued member of our Group Executive Committee, and has helped the Group navigate through testing times. 

“I look forward to working closely with Kevin as we continue the transformation phase of our strategy in the UK & Europe and deliver growth, increasing efficiency, and high standards of operational excellence.”

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