Rolls-Royce appoints Wincanton for global defence contract

Rolls-Royce, the global power systems company, has awarded a five-year contract to logistics specialist Wincanton to manage the storage and distribution of its generating sets destined for UK armed forces around the world.

Wincanton, which has extensive experience and expertise providing logistics services to the defence sector, will store the Rolls-Royce generators at its shared user facility in Middleton, Greater Manchester, before packing and despatching the systems bound for armed forces units across the globe.

Once at their destinations the generators will be used by armed forces personnel based in remote locations to power equipment such as communications and medical systems.

Dennis Wareing, Head of Procurement, Rolls-Royce Distributed Generation Systems, said: "For a contract of this much importance our priority was to work with a company with a proven ability to deliver a service in mission-critical situations.

"In Wincanton, we have found such a partner. Their approved facilities in Middleton provide us and our defence sector customers with the security and compliance required for our operations."

Wincanton will also carry out audited maintenance checks on return of the equipment before putting it back into storage ready for the next call out.

Chris Kingshott, Wincanton's Managing Director, said: "We are delighted to have won this contract with Rolls-Royce which comes on the back of us already securing recent contract renewals with major defence primes worth over £30 million.

"Rolls-Royce is an iconic global brand and winning such a prestigious new customer underlines our commitment to improving flexibility, increasing responsiveness and reducing risk, thereby adding overall value to our customers' operations."

He added: "We are looking forward to developing our relationship with Rolls-Royce and supporting their customers both in the UK and across the world. "Our culture of flexibility and continuous improvement provides peace of mind that support is available 24/7."

Wincanton was recently awarded the defence industry's coveted "Gold Standard" for its innovative work with helicopter manufacturer AgustaWestland, creating major efficiencies in its supply chain, both financial and environmental, and setting new benchmarks in customer service.