Solid State concludes terms on £34m electronic tagging deal

REDDITCH-based electronics and rugged system manufacturer, Solid State, has finalised terms on a £34m three-year contract with the Ministry of Justice to supply monitoring hardware for GPS offender tagging.

The firm said its Steatite business would supply the initial products to the MoJ by the calendar year end.  Quantities to be delivered are then expected to progressively increase over the contract term.

The contract, the group’s largest to date, is not expected to have a significant impact in the current financial year as most deliveries are expected to take place in financial years ending March 31, 2016 and 2017. The final deliveries will fall in the first half of financial year ending March 31, 2018. It is expected that the gross margins on the contract will be in line with the gross margins normally achieved by Steatite on its larger contracts.

Commenting on the contract award, Gary Marsh, chief executive of Solid State, said: “This is a landmark contract for the group and our largest to date. It marks the culmination of three years development work by Steatite and suitably illustrates the scale and complexity of the contracts that we are increasingly tendering for.  I would like to congratulate John Lavery and his team for securing this high profile contract.”