£130 million MoD Donnington deal to be signed

Work could start on the site of the new centre as soon as the autumn after the town was confirmed as the location for the £90 million development. A further £40 million will be spent on related IT projects.

The MoD today confirmed plans to sign a 13-year logistics programme contract with American group Leidos.

It will now start the process of recruiting for hundreds of new posts for the base.

Under the deal, MoD Donnington will provide equipment for British armed forces around the world, from food and clothing to medical supplies.

It is also expected to deliver financial savings to the MoD of around £500 million over the next 13 years, as well as safeguarding up to 1,000 existing jobs.

The programme includes £90 million in the construction of a defence fulfilment centre next to the existing Logistics Commodities and Service at Donnington.

A further £40 million will be spent on new IT systems. The contract award is planned for April.

The new contract forms part of a transformation of the MOD's commodities and services, to provide supplies to the Armed Forces more effectively.

Ludlow MP and Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology, Philip Dunne, said: "I am pleased we are able to confirm this transaction with Leidos, which will bring the military's logistics, commodities and support services up to the standard of industry best practice, deliver more efficient and effective processes across the supply chain and enhance the quality of support provided to our Armed Forces.

"This will generate significant savings of around half a billion over the life of the contract, representing good value for money for the taxpayer and, in due course, will deliver state of the art fulfillment to our inventory management processes and systems."