Babcock battles back from nuclear fallout with flurry of contracts

Babcock flies helicopter missions

Prince William’s former employer Babcock cushioned the loss of a major nuclear clean-up contract with a flurry of fresh bids.

The FTSE 100 outsourcer said contracts in the offing remained at £10.5 billion, despite the loss of £1 billion from the early end of a deal to decommission 12 nuclear sites across the country.

The contract to take the 1960s Magnox sites offline had been awarded by the UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority in 2014 but legal concerns mean the deal will end in 2019.

To fill the gap, Babcock is bidding for Ministry of Defence contracts to provide air base support at Brize Norton and run Met Police training.

Chief executive Archie Bethel predicted “substantial growth” thanks to the queue of fresh bids, and a £19 billion order book.

Underlying revenues rose 7.7% to £5.22 billion.

Prince William was a helicopter pilot for East Anglian Air Ambulance, which uses Babcock to fly missions.