The Ministry of Defence has awarded Skanska UK a £259 million
contract to deliver the Vehicle Storage Support Programme (VSSP)
at Ashchurch, Tewkesbury.
Contracted via the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO),
Skanska together with the Technical Services Provider, MACE, will
provide modern, sustainable and effective storage and maintenance
solutions for the British Army’s land equipment fleet.
Belinda Lunn, Senior Responsible Owner for VSSP 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.
Warren Webster, DIO’s Programme Director for Army Major Projects
and Programmes, 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 this September enabling regeneration of
the site by providing brand new infrastructure and updates to
existing buildings. Once complete the Ashchurch site will provide
Controlled Humidity Environment (CHE) storage for 4100 vehicles.
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.
Steve Holbrook, Managing Director for Skanska UK’s construction
arm, 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 will employ up to 400 people, a number of whom are
expected to be employed from the Tewkesbury area. There will be a
range of employment opportunities available including demolition,
groundworks, structural steelwork and scaffolding. In addition,
the project will also support 10 apprenticeships.
All construction activity is expected to complete by 2027.
