HMP Five Wells

Key Contact Details

HMP Five Wells opened in February 2022 on the site of the former HMP Wellingborough, and was built as Britain’s first purpose-built “smart prison”, with in-cell tablets and body scanners at reception designed to intercept contraband. It is run by G4S under a 10-year operating contract awarded in 2020. The current Director is Pete Small, who took over in June 2024, and the prison has a design capacity of around 1,769 places.

Five Wells, in Wellingborough, is one of the newest prisons in England, opened in 2022 on the site of the former HMP Wellingborough and built in under a year at a cost of around £253 million. Run under a 10-year contract by G4S, it is a Category C prison with capacity for around 1,770 adult men, over half of whom are serving sentences for sexual offences, and around 70% assessed as posing a high risk of harm to others.

The most recent independent inspection, in May 2026 and published that August, found real progress since the prison opened: leadership gave a clear sense of direction, staff-prisoner relationships were rated excellent, the environment was calm and well ordered, and violence among younger prisoners had fallen significantly — nearly two-thirds of prisoners surveyed felt their time there had reduced their chances of reoffending. Inspectors still found self-harm rates high despite some improvement, not enough education and work spaces for the population, long waits for GP, dental and hospital appointments, weaknesses in resettlement preparation and public protection arrangements, and some serious errors in sentence calculations. Because of the population size, some single cells had been converted to hold two men, which inspectors described as very cramped.

Given the specialist nature of much of Five Wells’ population, families may find it useful to ask directly about offending-behaviour work and release planning, alongside using the practical visiting and contact details above.