Sodexo get new decade-long contract to run scandal-hit Salford prison

"Looking ahead, we are planning further significant investment and development at HMP Forest Bank"

The Ministry of Justice has awarded Sodexo a new ten-year contract to run under-fire Forest Bank prison in Salford. The move comes despite staff expecting the company would be axed following an M.E.N. investigation

We uncovered allegations of widespread drug use and inmates who 'run the wings'. It prompted an MP and Salford's mayor to write to the government to demand an 'urgent' review.

Salford and Eccles MP Rebecca Long-Bailey called for the Ministry of Justice to cancel the contract. Last summer the M.E.N. reported that two sources at the jail had said that the Ministry of Justice had decided to award the new contract to another company, but that Sodexo was appealing the decision.

The Manchester Evening News' investigation in 2023, based on allegations from a whistleblower, an ex-prisoner and his father, and the family of a grandfather who died in his cell, exposed what Salford and Eccles MP Rebecca Long-Bailey branded a 'culture of lawlessness' at the jail.

But today, confirming the new contract Sodexo said it "reflects the MoJ’s continued confidence in our ability to deliver safe, secure, and high-quality prison services." The company says it intends to

The Manchester Evening News revealed that:

• Drugs are rife, smuggled in via 'legal letters' and inmates are 'off their t**s a lot of the time'
• Inmates brew their own hooch
• Violence is commonplace and inmates 'run the wings'
• Staff feel 'unsafe' and a lone guard can be 'left to guard 100-plus inmates'
• Staff have to buy 'their own uniform because of cost-cutting'
• A desperate father paid off a drug dealer on his addict son's wing because 'staff didn't protect him'

But in a statement to partner agencies, Trevor Shortt, Mobilisation Director for Sodexo, said: "We are pleased to confirm with you that Sodexo has been awarded a new ten-year contract by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to continue the management, operation and maintenance of HMP Forest Bank, effective from 20 January 2026.

"This renewal reflects the MoJ’s continued confidence in our ability to deliver safe, secure, and high-quality prison services.

"Our mission remains clear: to change lives for the better and reduce reoffending through rehabilitation. We remain committed to our core values of safety, security, decency, and respect.

"Looking ahead, we are planning further significant investment and development at HMP Forest Bank. Our focus areas include strengthening safety and security, expanding education, vocational training, and employment opportunities, and enhancing support for both reception and resettlement processes. In addition, we aim to create a more digitally enabled environment that supports rehabilitation and delivers improved long-term outcomes.

"We are working in close partnership with the Ministry of Justice to ensure a well-coordinated mobilisation of the new contract as we begin implementing the enhancements set out in our successful bid."

Sodexo's contract to run the prison ended on January 19, 2025 but it was granted an extension while the government decided who to award a new contract to. Back in 1998, it was awarded a deal worth £1,006,771,964 to design, build and run the prison built on the site of the former Agecroft power station under a private finance initiative to house a maximum 1,064 inmates. The deal was to last 25 years, before being extended.

Forest Bank is a Category B prison with capacity to hold 1,460 inmates. A large proportion are remand prisoners.

Sodexo, founded and based in France, runs six prisons in England and Scotland, and in 2022 recorded revenues of 21.1 billion euros, including 'underlying operating profit' of more than a billion euros, up 83 per cent.

The company has run Forest Bank since it was opened in 2000. It is understood the new ten-year contract is worth just under £400m.

On Saturday May 31st prison officers had to deal with a disturbance after some unruly inmates are understood to have jammed the locks on their cell doors. Bosses confirmed brief details of the incident on A1 wing and insisted it was 'quickly and professionally resolved'.

One prison insider told the Manchester Evening News there was a 'huge disturbance' on A1 wing. A number of inmates 'jammed' their cell door locks which prevented prison officers from being able to lock them up as normal, according to the well-placed insider.