The Chief Executive of G4S Group, which made unwelcome headlines last month when it failed to recruit enough security staff to cover the Olympics, has revealed today that the error has cost the company £50m, which could increase when fines and the cost of military cover are finalised.
Nick Buckles said:
“We were deeply disappointed that we had significant issues with the London 2012 Olympics contract and are very grateful to the military and the police for their support in helping us to deliver a safe and secure Games.”
The Group was found to be in breach of its £284m contract after not recruiting and training enough staff to guard the Olympics, forcing the Government to draft in 18,000 troops from the military.
In its half-year report, G4S also revealed that it has cut 1,100 jobs so far this year in a bid to protect growing margins.
The company is currently investigating the failure, which should be completed by the end of September, but Mr Buckles refused to elaborate on what went wrong while the investigation is ongoing.
G4S will still be providing the security contract for the Paralympics, which start on Wednesday, but Buckles has maintained the company won’t bid for the tender at the Rio Olympics in four years’ time because “the profit upside is not as great as the reputational downside if things go wrong”.
Buckles added:
“We are confident that we have an assured security workforce for the Paralympic Games and do not anticipate any workforce shortfall issues to arise.”
