IN Brief:
- Babcock has appointed Henry Brothers for three infrastructure projects at HMNB Clyde.
- The £2.55m programme includes security fencing, ballistic shelters and pressure-test building refurbishment.
- Works are scheduled to begin immediately, supporting facilities used by the Royal Navy’s submarine fleet.
Henry Brothers has been appointed by Babcock International Group to deliver three infrastructure projects at His Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde in Scotland, with the combined programme reported at £2.55m. The packages involve improvements to security fencing around a support building at Faslane, the supply and installation of specialist ballistic security shelters, and refurbishment of an existing pressure-test building.
The works are intended to begin immediately and form part of continuing investment in the naval base’s operational infrastructure. HMNB Clyde supports the Royal Navy’s submarine service, including Vanguard and Astute-class boats, making the maintenance and adaptation of buildings and supporting facilities an ongoing engineering requirement. The announcements identify the three work types but do not disclose individual package values, construction periods or technical drawings.
The fencing package concerns a key support building at Faslane. Upgrading a protective perimeter within an active military site involves interfaces with existing access points, building approaches and operational circulation. No fence specification or layout has been disclosed.
A second package covers specialist ballistic security shelters at locations across the base. These are protective facilities, but neither their number nor the applicable performance specification has been made public. The published appointment confirms the installation work without disclosing the shelters’ protective ratings. The engineering and acceptance requirements are likely to be determined by the client’s confidential project specifications.
The third element is the refurbishment of an existing pressure-test building. A pressure-test facility provides a controlled setting for the testing of equipment or components under specified pressure conditions, but the public contract announcement does not describe the particular equipment, operating pressures or mechanical systems within this building. Refurbishment scope could only be established reliably from the project specification, which has not been released.
The three packages combine civil, protective and refurbishment work within an operating naval base. Boundary improvements, protective structures and modifications within an existing technical building each introduce different sequencing and interface considerations. Working around operational facilities can also require construction access and delivery arrangements to be coordinated with site users, although no project-specific access restrictions or working windows have been disclosed.
Henry Brothers’ Scotland regional director Nick McKeown said the appointments reflected Babcock’s confidence in the contractor’s experience delivering secure and specialised infrastructure. He linked the projects to the need to maintain dependable facilities for the submarine fleet. The contractor, headquartered in Northern Ireland, has previously delivered work across defence and other public-sector settings, including projects involving operational buildings and enhanced security.
Babcock provides engineering and infrastructure services at Clyde as the Ministry of Defence’s industry partner. Its published description of the site includes infrastructure management and nuclear facility operations alongside support for naval engineering and maintenance. The broader programme is substantially larger than these three packages, and Babcock has separately referred to a £250m investment to modernise Clyde infrastructure. That figure describes the wider base programme, not the Henry Brothers contract.
The Ministry of Defence’s 2026 update to Parliament places Clyde within a long-term naval infrastructure programme covering bases and submarine support facilities. It identifies major investment in the defence nuclear enterprise, including works associated with accommodation and operational capability. Such wider commitments provide context for the latest contractor appointment, but the £2.55m projects have their own limited disclosed scope and should not be confused with separate large construction schemes.
The appointment adds a group of relatively specialised building and infrastructure tasks to ongoing modernisation at HMNB Clyde. Subsequent progress will be measurable through confirmation of completed fencing works, installed shelters and the pressure-test building’s return to service, although Babcock and Henry Brothers have not announced when those milestones will be reached. The construction programme therefore has no confirmed public completion date.
