Management and Training Corporation, a Utah-based security firm that operates detention centers for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, reported a sharp revenue decline in Britain after losing a major contract but secured a potentially far more valuable deal managing asylum processing sites.
MTC UK's annual revenue dropped to £17.6m in 2025 from £28.4m the prior year following the September termination of its contract to provide "security and care" at the Manston asylum centre in Kent. The company swung to a £1.6m loss, compared with a £1.3m profit in 2024.
Yet MTC Definitive, a joint venture where MTC holds majority ownership, won a contract in May to manage processing operations for people arriving by small boat. The initial agreement is worth £462m over six years, with potential extensions that could push the total value to £539m through 2036.
The Irregular Migration Management Services contract covers Manston and the Western Jet Foil site in Dover, plus associated disembarkation points along the Kent coast where boats arrive.
Manston itself became a flashpoint for asylum policy. A public inquiry found the facility "overcrowded, squalid and insanitary" during a critical six-month period in 2022 when MTC took over operations for the Home Office. The centre had drawn scathing criticism from activists, legal advocates, and MPs who documented deteriorating conditions.
Mitie, a competing outsourcing firm, has challenged the contract award in court, claiming the Home Office failed to manage conflicts of interest. Specifically, Mitie alleged that Dave Butler, MTC's head of development, previously served as deputy director at Manston. The Home Office rejected the challenge as baseless and said no conflict existed.
Despite posting a loss, MTC UK's highest-paid director received £211,000 in 2025, a 5% raise from the previous year. The pay figures drew renewed scrutiny given that Ellie Reeves, newly appointed as attorney general, had previously criticized executive compensation at companies including MTC.
MTC's broader record in the UK has been contentious. Before winning the asylum contracts, the company faced criticism for conditions at Rainsbrook secure training centre in Warwickshire, a youth detention facility it operates. Ofsted inspectors found children locked in cells for more than 23 hours daily during the pandemic "with no justifiable rationale." Later visits documented physical assaults, weapons in the facility, and staff warnings that a death was likely.
The parent company operates U.S. prisons and job training centers. Its detention facilities have been used by ICE, which has received expanded funding and faced allegations of excessive force during the Trump administration.
Author James Rodriguez: "MTC's financial whiplash in Britain, from loss to monster contract, reveals how aggressively the Home Office is consolidating asylum management with a firm that already has a troubled track record."
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