THE facilities management arm of Preston Brook-based dry cleaning to workwear provider Johnson Service Group has won a contract worth £10m over three years.

SGP Property & Facilities Management will deliver a range of services at 185 sites around the UK and Ireland owned by media group Johnston Press.

Up to 130 Johnston Press staff currently employed in functions such as security, catering, cleaning, buildings maintenance, fire safety management, and grounds maintenance will transfer to SGP.

A three-month ‘mobilisation’ exercise is now under way and the contract is expected to begin in September.

Kevin Elliott, SGP managing director, said: “We continue to strengthen our presence across the corporate, retail, hospitality, healthcare and education sectors.

“SGP combines management expertise with an extensive service partner network to offer clients an alternative approach to the self-delivery model that is prevalent across the FM (facilities management) industry.”

He added: “We assist clients through the outsourcing process to help them make the right choices for their organisations, not the choice that suits us.”

SGP currently manages more than £1.2bn of annual spend at about 50,000 locations throughout the UK and Eire.

Johnson Service Group relocated from its Bootle headquarters to Preston Brook, near Runcorn, in 2007.

It operates divisions in dry cleaning, based in Prescot, near Liverpool, workwear rental, property and facilities management, and linen hire to the hospitality, catering and leisure industries.