Almost a year after BT chose the Carillion led Monteray consortium to deliver FM services across its portfolio, the Project Jaguar deal has finally been signed.

Confirmation of the BT contract will boost Carillion's services business, which saw turnover down last year at £306.7m from £322.7m in 1999 (see News story).

The news comes as BT is expected to announce the appointment of a preferred bidder to take on its property portfolio, generating around £2bn of income and making a small dent in its £30bn debt mountain (see News story).

The contract signed by Monteray, 51% owned by Carillion (Haden Building Management and Reliance Integrated Services each have half of the remainder), is worth around £500m over five years. Monteray will provide facilities management services to over 8,500 BT buildings ranging from large offices and computer centres to transport workshops and telephone exchanges.

Services will be delivered through a two-tier service model, based on an Enabling Organisation and eight Regional Service Providers (see News story). Mobilisation of the Regional Service Providers is nearing completion and Monteray is on target for full service delivery from the beginning of next month.

Richard Byatt