Skanska awarded £259 million contract to deliver modern British Army vehicle storage facility

Skanska UK has been granted a £259 million contract by the Ministry of Defence to deliver the Vehicle Storage Support Programme (VSSP) at Ashchurch, Tewkesbury. Skanska and the Technical Services Provider, MACE, have been contracted by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) to offer modern, sustainable, and effective storage and maintenance solutions for the British Army's ground equipment fleet.

Skanska has been awarded a contract for £259 million to redevelop an army vehicle storage complex

VSSP's Senior Responsible Owner, Belinda Lunn, said: “We are very excited to be working with Skanska to deliver this project which will bring the Ashchurch site back up to full operating capability.

Whilst the majority of the Army’s vehicle fleet is either on, or training for operations, a sizeable fleet is centrally stored to ensure that they are ready to deploy when required. VSSP will redevelop this centralised facility and deliver a modern, sustainable storage solution that ensures operational readiness of the Army’s vehicles by minimising the need for maintenance.”

DIO's Program Director for Army Major Projects and Programmes, Warren Webster, said: “It’s great to see this project take a major step forward as we award the contract. This important work will future-proof the Army’s vehicle storage and maintenance facilities at Ashchurch for years to come and we look forward to continuing to work with our partners in the Army, Skanska and Mace to support this significant capability improvement.”

Demolitions will begin in September, allowing the property to be regenerated with new infrastructure and upgrades to existing structures. When finished, the Ashchurch facility will be able to store 4100 automobiles in a Controlled Humidity Environment (CHE).

Katy Dowding, Executive Vice President, Skanska UK, said: “We’re delighted to continue supporting modernisation of the Defence estate following completion of Worthy Down in 2021, so we’re excited to help transform this site to protect and maintain this vital asset for the Army.”

Skanska UK's construction arm's Managing Director, Steve Holbrook, added: “We’re also proud to continue to help drive greener solutions as part of this complex project and plan to make significant use of modern methods of construction to drive down carbon emissions.”

The project is intended to employ up to 400 people, with many of them coming from the Tewkesbury region. Demolition, groundworks, structural steelwork, and scaffolding are just a few of the jobs that will be available. Furthermore, the project will support ten apprenticeships.

By 2027, all construction work should be completed.