Stronger partnerships between the public and private sector can help drive the Scottish economic recovery, the CEO of a FTSE 250 outsourcer said today. 

Ruby McGregor Smith, chief executive officer of MITIE, the strategic outsourcing and energy services company, said outsourcing has been proven to deliver up to 30% savings to customers. 

Greater outsourcing amongst Scotland’s public services could also play a significant part in reducing costs and energy consumption whilst also improving service delivery, she said. 

At an audience of influential Scottish business leaders at the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce she said: “Outsourcing saves customers up to 30% and with the Scottish government facing increasing budgetary pressures greater partnership with the private sector can help make sure essential services are delivered.

“The private sector can bring new ideas and skills to public service delivery by allowing the Scottish government to get more for less. New partnership models and a focus on energy management is enabling transformational change across the public sector.” 

MITIE is a leading outsourcing and energy services company with 7,000 employees in Scotland and over 60,000 across the UK. 

It services 3,000 buildings across Scotland providing a range of services including cleaning, security, maintenance and energy management. 

Key clients include the Scottish prison service and parliament as well as well as Rolls Royce and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Notes to editors 

Ruby joined MITIE Group in December 2002 as group finance director, was promoted to chief operating officer in September 2005 and subsequently to chief executive in March 2007. 

Prior to joining MITIE, she held a range of senior roles within the support services sector, primarily at Serco. Ruby has also served as an Independent Non-Executive Director of Michael Page International plc since May 2007, is a Chair of Race for Opportunity Board within the BiTC and also a Business in the Community Board member.

What is MITIE?
We’re the strategic outsourcing company. What does that mean in practice? We manage facilities, properties and assets for our clients across the UK and beyond.

We work with our clients in three ways; some take full advantage of our whole range of expertise, others may only need one aspect of what we do:

Strategy and consultancy
+ Facilities and project management
+ Service delivery

Our strategic input can add value at the highest level by helping clients to manage their assets, while our practical management expertise can save customers money and reduce their carbon emissions. We work with a vast number of clients in every industry across both the public and private sectors and deliver the broadest range of services that can be found in one place: from integrated facilities management to engineering maintenance to lifecycle energy management and much more.

There’s a lot more to MITIE than you probably think. We’re a big company with big ambitions – a leading FTSE 250 support services business, with more than 56,000 people, revenues in excess of £1.7bn, and a reputation for being the best.

- ENDS -