Defence giant Babcock has been awarded a £1.25 billion deal to supply the Ministry of Defence with its newest fleet of warships.

The contractor saw shares lift after it confirmed that it secured the contract to supply the UK with a fleet of five Type 31 frigate ships.

In September, the owner of the Rosyth dockyard in Fife was named by Boris Johnson as the preferred bidder for the agreement, as part of a step in the Government's plan to increase the number of warships in the Royal Navy over the next 20 years.

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The ships will cost an average of £250 million each and will be assembled the Rosyth site, Babcock said in an update to the stock market.

Shares in the company were up 1.7% at 524.8p.

Shareholders in Government contractor Kier have succeeded in a major rebellion over the pay deal for its top executives.

The listed firm's executive pay policy was rejected by investors, with 53.9% of votes going against the construction business, at its annual general meeting on Friday.

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In the year to June 2019, Kier paid its board a total of £2.1 million despite the company sinking to a £245 million pre-tax loss over the same period.

Executives were paid less than the £5.5 million they received the year before as they did not receive any bonuses for the current year.

Shares in the company were up 2.4% to 89.7p.

The head of outsourcing firm Interserve has stepped down from the company in a move which will see the role abolished.

Debbie White's exit from the business after two years will pave the way for an eventual break up of the construction business.

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It is understood she informed her board of her intention to leave the firm in March and stayed on until now to help develop its new company structure.

Interserve said the group will be strengthening its leadership across its three separate divisions - construction, support services, and equipment services subsidiary RMDK.

The company was taken into the hands of creditors in March in a deal which wiped out the value of 16,500 small shareholders.