Services and systems colossus Serco has taken charge of more government contracts by buying out Vertex Public Sector's data division: Vertex Data Science (VDS).

Serco splashed £55.5m in cash on the division - bringing in 3,000 employees and scooping its meaty government contracts, including administering child maintenance grants and running Job Centres.

Serco announced the buy-out of Vertex Data Science today, promising that the acquisition of expertise puts it in a position to apply for more and bigger government contracts, and will strengthen its current operations.

Vertex Data Science's 3,000 employees handle 4.5 million citizen interactions a year, the statement to investors declares. As well as handling all the data and systems for the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission and the JobCentre Plus agency - which helps people find jobs, pays out some benefits and administers National Insurance numbers - it also runs contracts for Westminster and Thurrock councils.

Serco had a revenue of £4.65bn and posted net profits of £175.10m for the 12 months ending December 2011. Vertex Public Sector Limited had approximately £110m of revenue and £8m of Adjusted operating profit for the year ending 31 March 2012. ®