Moreton Fire Service College sold (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Moreton Fire Service College sold to Capita Plc

9:00am Saturday 2nd March 2013 in News By Ian Craig

A NATIONAL firefighter training facility in Moreton-in-Marsh has been sold to a private company for £10m.

The Fire Service College was officially handed over from public ownership to taken over as a going concern by business management company Capita last week.

Fire minister Brandon Lewis MP said he welcomed the news.

“I believe that by freeing the college from the constraints of government ownership, a private sector owner like Capita will have the freedom to generate new business and provide the innovation and investment which the college needs to safeguard its long term future,” he said.

The government announced the college would be sold in March 2012, saying privatisation would increase its opportunities for development.

Although it considered closing the facility, a requirement of the sale is that it remains as a fire training college.

Capita’s joint chief operations officer Andy Parker said the company planned to develop the college into a “pioneering facility” for the fire service and other emergency services.