Residents of Orbit East & South will see over £1m invested in community projects as part of a ten year property services contract with MITIE. 

MITIE has been awarded a £110m partnering contract to deliver reactive repairs, voids and planned improvement works to 14,000 homes across East Anglia, London and the South East. 

Residents were involved in the selection process and securing the investment package. As part of the contract MITIE offered a community investment package worth around £110,000 a year; typically including refurbishment projects, charitable work, support for community initiatives along with events such as DIY workshops and training days. MITIE has also committed to employing one apprentice for every £1m turnover, creating training opportunities and long term employment for local people. 

The contract, due to start in April 2011, has an estimated value of over £11m per year for ten years, with an optional five-year extension period. 

David Collick, Director of Property Services for Orbit East and South, said: “Our residents wanted a contractor who was going to deliver a great service to our customers and provide real value for money.

“Residents helped us choose the supplier and their input was key in securing the community investment package. MITIE has a great track record and the length of the contract means we can continue to improve the service while keeping costs down. 

“We also wanted MITIE to help us to meet our ambition of „building brighter futures for people and communities‟ and are delighted that they will create opportunities for local people and invest about £110,000 a year in community projects.” 

Adrian Dawson, Director for MITIE Group‟s Property Management team added, “The appointment is a testament to our track record of delivering outstanding results on our existing contract with Orbit. We look forward to delivering on our promises to further invest in the community, provide apprenticeships and work placements. Our investment package is all made possible by Orbit‟s vision for a long term partnership with MITIE. We are delighted to be working with Orbit for many years to come and are committed to continuing to deliver a first-class service to Orbit and its residents. 

-ENDS-

Notes for editors

What is MITIE?
We’re the strategic outsourcing company. What does that mean in practice? We manage facilities, properties and assets for our clients across the UK and beyond.

We work with our clients in three ways; some take full advantage of our whole range of expertise, others may only need one aspect of what we do:

Strategy and consultancy
+ Facilities and project management
+ Service delivery

Our strategic input can add value at the highest level by helping clients to manage their assets, while our practical management expertise can save customers money and reduce their carbon emissions. We work with a vast number of clients in every industry across both the public and private sectors and deliver the broadest range of services that can be found in one place: from integrated facilities management to engineering maintenance to lifecycle energy management and much more.

There’s a lot more to MITIE than you probably think. We’re a big company with big ambitions – a leading FTSE 250 support services business, with more than 56,000 people, revenues in excess of £1.7bn, and a reputation for being the best.

Visit us at www.mitie.com 

Orbit South

• Orbit South owns and manages 12,000 homes in Kent, East Sussex, Surrey and South London. 
• The association is part of the Orbit Group, one of the largest housing groups in the country operating in the Midlands, the South East and the East of England providing over 34,000 high quality affordable homes to those in housing need. 
• Orbit Group Ltd, Orbit Heart of England, Orbit South Housing Association Ltd, Orbit East, Heart of England Housing & Care, Orbit First Step and Orbit New Homes are part of the Orbit Group. 
• Orbit South employs approximately 250 staff. 
• Orbit South works in partnership with local authorities to develop new affordable homes, including Bexley, Sutton, Croydon, Medway, Thanet, Dover, Ashord, Canterbury, Tunbridge Wells, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge & Malling, Maidstone, Hastings, Rother, Wealden, Reigate and Banstead, and Epsom and Ewell. 

Orbit Group Limited, Orbit South Housing Association Limited and Heart of England Housing Association Limited are exempt charities.