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MoD FRES U-turn 'no skin off anyone's nose'
By Keri Wagstaff-Smith
17 December 2008
The UK minister for defence equipment and support has described the withdrawal of General Dynamics UK's (GDUK's) provisional preferred bidder status on the Future Rapid Effects System Utility Vehicle (FRES UV) design as "no skin off anyone's nose".
Quentin Davies MP - appointed to the post in October 2008 - added that industry's funding concerns are a "natural state of affairs".
Speaking at the House of Commons Defence Committee's (HCDC's) third evidence session on defence equipment on 16 December, Davies noted that "[GDUK] decided on bidding when we had not accepted their approach". He added later during the hearing that "maybe both parties thought the other would change its mind" and that the "MoD [Ministry of Defence] hoped to agree a solution with GDUK on a commercial basis going forward".
"We failed to do that," he stated, although he noted that both the MoD and GDUK were "absolutely straight" and "transparent" with one another throughout negotiations. The final decision was "no skin off anyone's nose", he said, adding: "That's just life. That's business."