Mears : wins Manchester repairs and maintenance contract

A repairs and maintenance contract worth up to £86m over the next 10 years has been signed for north Manchester's council homes.

Manchester City Council and its arm's length housing management organisation, Northwards Housing, have chosen Mears to do the work.

Mears won the right to carry out the repairs, empty property and servicing work to 13,500 homes in the north of the city.

The contract, which will also include Mears carrying out new adaptation work to all Manchester City Council homes, follows a four-stage tendering process and strong competition between four firms.

The new contract starts on Monday 3 April and will run initially until 2 April 2021. The plan is for it to continue to the full 10 years through two three-year extensions.

Mears is the majority owner (80%) of Northwards' existing contractor, Manchester Working Ltd.

Sue Abbott, chair of the Northwards board, said: 'Mears offers good value for money, with the pre-set price of each repair job decreasing by 3.01%. They've also agreed to fix this cost for four years, which is great at a time where funding for services can be uncertain.

'We look forward to building on the great relationship we already have and further improve our repairs service.'

As part of the new contract, Mears will offer weekday hours of 8am to 8pm and a Saturday morning service. Servicing costs will become fixed and there are new incentives and disincentives for the contractor to control spending.

Des Morris, Managing Director of Mears, North West, said: 'We are delighted to have been awarded the new contract. We can now build on the solid foundations already established over the last 10 years through the Manchester Working joint venture to deliver excellent services, value for money and tenant satisfaction.'