The international support services and construction group revealed this morning it had entered into an agreement to sell its Interserve Industrial Services Limited (IISL) business for an initial cash consideration with the potential for a further £1m subject to the business achieving certain financing targets for the financial years 2018 and 2019.

IISL comprised Interserve’s provision of scaffolding services to housebuilders and other contractors as well as its SIP (Scaffolding, Insulation & Painting) services to large industrial sites.

Together with the closure of IISL’s power activities earlier this year the move concludes Interserve’s exit from its industrial contracting activities.

Scott Hardie will continue to lead the business as managing director.

IISL reported an operating loss of £4m for the year ended 31 December 2017 and had gross assets of £47.3m. The transaction will result in a loss on disposal of circa £8.4m with the sale proceeds used to reduce Interserve’s debt.

Debbie White, chief executive officer at Interserve, said: “We are pleased to announce the sale of the access and hard services business as part of Interserve’s strategy to focus on core customer segments.”