PRESS RELEASE
February 5th 2002
MEARS GROUP LANDS £130 MILLION CONTRACT WITH RICHMOND HOUSING
Mears Group has been awarded a ten-year contract worth more than £130million by Richmond Housing Partnership. It is to provide day-to-day repairs and planned maintenance services to the Partnership’s 6,500 rented homes and 1,500 leasehold properties. This is one of the largest contracts in the social housing sector, and almost doubles the size of Mears forward order book, to £280 million.
Mears has been chosen as a ‘preferred partner’ by the Partnership, which is a Registered Social Landlord that took transfer of the London Borough of Richmond’s housing stock in July 2000. The project starts on April lst 2002, with a full partnering contract targeted for September 2002.
Approximately £40million of the project will be for reactive maintenance and voids repairs. £90million is to upgrade the general quality of the homes through kitchen and bathroom renewal, window and door replacement, re-roofing and environmental improvement. There will also be an active programme of repairs and decorations.
The partnership is based on the principles of Sir John Egan’s report on ‘Rethinking Construction’, and is one of the most innovative contracts so far in this area.
Says Mears chairman Bob Holt: ‘This is a fantastic opportunity for the Group. RHP has demonstrated real commitment to partnering as a route to guaranteeing high quality services and excellent value for its customers on a continuous basis. We are totally committed to building long term relationships with our clients that allow us to continually develop and improve the service we provide.’
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Issued on behalf of Mears Group plc by Weber Shandwick Fleet Financial.
Press contacts:
Bob Holt (Chairman, Mears Group) Tel: 01453 511911
Mobile: 07778 798816
Trevor Bass/Alex White (WSFF) Tel: 020 7950 2890