Interserve PFI Holdings has an equal one third equity stake in this PFI project with consortium partners Sodexho Investment Services Limited (the investment arm of UKDS's parent company, Sodexho Alliance SA) and Royal Bank Project Investments Ltd (the investment arm of the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Her Majesty's Prison Service (HMPS) awarded this contract in February 2003 to design, build and operate a new prison at Peterborough, Cambridgeshire. It was the first purpose-built facility in the United Kingdom to accommodate both male and female inmates.

The prison has 840 places, 480 of which are for men and 360 for women. Housing both sexes on one site has significant implications for both design and management not least because of the strict requirement for non-mixing in terms of physical and vocal separation. Interserve worked closely with UKDS to prepare a proposal that took these issues fully into account.

There is a mixture of single and double cells and the women's accommodation includes a mother-and-baby unit. The prison was designed to provide safe and secure accommodation within a caring regime that offers opportunities for education and training and focuses on reducing re-offending.

Interserve were responsible for the design and construction, while partner UKDS is operating the prison for a period of 25 years from its opening in early 2005.

Read the contract announcement

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