Community
Our day-to-day activities place us at the very heart of the communities in which we work and a commitment to safeguarding their interests is integral to our business. Through our services, we have become a trusted part of people's lives in diverse and often profound ways.
The strength and depth of our integration with local communities were vividly illustrated on July 7, when our people were instrumental in managing London's calm, prompt and courageous response to the bomb attacks that struck the city. The following summary of events gives a sense of the diverse roles we played during that traumatic day:
Immediately after the bombs exploded, our teams on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) shut down the network swiftly and safely. Having reunited stranded schoolchildren with their families during the morning, teams re-opened the system in time for commuters to return home safely and efficiently that evening.
Our traffic management teams in London and the National Traffic Control Centre played their part by helping to close off roads and redirecting traffic. Once the immediate crisis had eased, they helped manage the road network to get drivers home. Our court escort and electronic tagging teams in the capital helped emergency services evacuate court buildings and police stations, assisting blast victims wherever possible.
As the scale of the destruction became clear, Serco teams at the London heliport and the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service strengthened the medical response by taking on extra responsibilities, freeing up doctors and nurses to care for the injured. Meanwhile, the London Fire Service used equipment and techniques developed by our consulting teams as they activated the UK Government's emergency response plans.
Our people's timely and selfless response to the London bombings was matched by their response to last year's natural disasters in south-east Asia, the Gulf of Mexico and Pakistan.
These events reinforced Serco's position at the heart of community affairs, highlighting the diversity of our services and the trust that people invest in them. But we never take their trust for granted. Rather, we continue to develop services that will make a positive difference to the communities where we operate worldwide.
In Scotland, for example, our Home Affairs team at Her Majesty's Prison (HMP) Kilmarnock has gone beyond its contractual obligations to play a life-saving role in stemming the worrying rise in drug-related deaths among ex-prisoners in Ayrshire.
Such activity is what we mean by bringing service to life.