| Type | Public (LSE: JRVS)(soon to be delisted, due to administration). |
|---|---|
| Industry | Rail |
| Founded | 1846 |
| Headquarters | York, England |
| Key people | Steven Norris, Chairman Richard W. Entwistle, CEO John P. O'Kane, Finance Director |
| Revenue | £345.8 million (2009)[1] |
| Operating income | £7.7 million (2009)[1] |
| Net income | £(9.6) million (2009)[1] |
| Employees | 3,881 (2008) |
| Website | www.jarvisplc.com |
Jarvis plc (LSE: JRVS) is a British company that provides support services to the British railway industry. It also runs rail freight operations. The most significant feature of the modern firm is its leading share of the UK’s railway maintenance and infrastructure services.
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The company was founded in 1846 as the Jarvis Construction Company. In 1994, Paris Moayedi was appointed Chief Executive[2] and refocused the business on infrastructure maintenance and renewal. The Company acquired the Northern Infrastructure Maintenance Company, a rail maintenance business, in 1996.[3] It went on to buy Fastline,[3] a rail freight business, and Relayfast,[3] a rail engineering business, in 1997. In 1998, it entered the road and airport maintenance business by acquiring Streamline Holdings.[4]
In 2002, 7 people were killed when a train derailed at Potters Bar after passing faulty points. As Infrastructure Maintenance Contractor for the line, Jarvis was considered jointly responsible for the crash (along with Railtrack), with the Office of Rail Regulation declaring "Jarvis’s performance fell far short of that to be expected of a competent IMC".[5]
Mr. Moayedi resigned as chairman of the company in 2003 and was replaced by Steven Norris.[6] The Company gradually over-extended itself and in 2004 was forced to sell its PFI business to Vinci,[7] its European roads business to French group Somaro[8] and its stake in Tubelines to Ferrovial.[9]
The company also entered the vehicle hire business with a fleet of 1,700 vans by 2010.[10]
In March 2010, the company announced that it was to enter administration, saying that, "Following negotiations with the company's secured lenders, it has today become clear that sufficient support will not be extended to the company to enable it to continue trading as a going concern."[11]