MITIE has been awarded a five-year, £20m contract by Dacorum Borough Council’s Housing Service to improve the quality and efficiency of its reactive repairs and voids service for tenants.
The partnership will see MITIE’s property services division as the sole provider of responsive and void repairs services to the council’s 11,000 homes in Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted, Tring and the surrounding villages.
MITIE’s experience within the social housing sector and knowledge of industry best practice will ensure a streamlined system of improvement and provide tenants with a “right first time” approach to housing maintenance. Sustainable efficiencies and better value will be delivered by removing duplicated tasks, improving repair diagnostics, reducing variation orders and void turnaround times, and by being wholly focused on activities that add value for the customer. Efficiencies will also be created using MITIE’s substantial buying power, supply chain capabilities and investment in IT.
MITIE understands the importance of local knowledge and expertise in running an efficient repairs service, and will retain and build on existing skills by TUPEtransferring the 70-strong team that currently provides the service. This includes tradespeople, administrative staff and managers.
Supporting the local communities in which it works is also important to MITIE and this is reflected throughout its agreement with the council. MITIE will open a local office in the borough to manage the partnership, and will create opportunities for career development, training and apprenticeships. MITIE will also invest directly in the local community by starting a MITIE Skills Centre in the area: this will involve fitting out a construction centre for school pupils, where they can learn both the practical and theoretical aspects of wet and dry trades. MITIE will also utilise local supply chain relationships to support the local economy.
Andy Morton, Director of MITIE’s property services division, commented: “Each community that MITIE works in is different, so involving local tenants and listening carefully to their feedback has been vital in helping us to understand Dacorum’s distinct character and the challenges faced. Paying attention to suggestions for improvement has helped us to develop a bespoke solution that will improve efficiencies within the system, and which will also assist the council in achieving its ambitious objectives in the provision of housing services.”
Margaret Griffiths, Housing Portfolio Holder for Dacorum Borough Council, said: "This is a very important and valued service and with MITIE's help we are sure that it will go from strength to strength. By awarding the contract to MITIE, we are fulfilling our duty to our tenants and to our leaseholders to ensure that we spend rent money wisely. The testing of Council services against what is offered by the private sector is common practice amongst local authorities and indeed is expected by the Government and by the Audit Commission," she adds.
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For further information, contact:
David Revis, Investor Relations and PR Manager, MITIE Group PLC
T: 020 7034 7306, M: 07979 702465, E: david.revis@mitie.co.uk
Donna Fooks-Bale, Communications Manager, MITIE Property Services (UK) Ltd
T: 01454 275880, M: 07920 298127, E: donna.fooks-bale@mitie.co.uk
For general information about the company’s activities please visit:
www.mitiepropertyservices.co.uk
www.mitie.co.uk
Notes for editors:
About MITIE
MITIE is one of the UK’s leading support services companies, delivering facilities, engineering and property services to more than 6,000 public and private sector clients. It is also one of the UK’s largest employers with over 45,000 people supporting customers every day.
MITIE provides all of the facilities services that organisations may wish to outsource including Catering, Cleaning, Document Management, Front of House Services, Energy Services, Engineering Maintenance, Facilities Management, Landscaping, Grounds Maintenance, Pest Control, Security and Waste and Environmental Services. MITIE also offers engineering and property services, improving buildings for its customers by providing Building Refurbishment, Fit-Out and Maintenance Services, together with Mechanical & Electrical Engineering.
MITIE’s unique share ownership ethos ‘Management Incentive Through Investment Equity’ (MITIE) encourages our employees to focus on what our customers want. MITIE’s success in delivering sustainable growth, through responsible and proactive engagement with stakeholders, has enabled the Group to become a FTSE 250 company, achieving annual revenues of over £1.2bn.
MITIE Property Services is the division within MITIE that specialises in the provision of maintenance and refurbishment services to both public and private sector customers. Customers include commercial firms, local authorities, housing associations, banks and schools.