EWFM WINS £24m STOKE CONTRACT

Eric Wright Facilities Management (EWFM), a division of the Eric Wright Group, has secured a £24million contract with Stoke City Council to deliver hard and soft FM services to the biggest extra care scheme to be developed in Stoke-on-Trent.

The 390 apartments, sited across three villages in Stoke, have been designed for people aged over 55. The accommodation will offer residents the opportunity to continue living independently with the same privacy they would have in any other kind of housing, but with access to other services and facilities that support them.

Appointed as part of Sapphire, a consortium of property professionals including construction, housing, facilities management, property development and architects, EWFM’s 23-year contract will see the Preston-headquartered firm deliver services including planned and reactive maintenance, building maintenance, energy management, lifecycle management, cleaning and grounds maintenance.

Connal O’Brien, Managing Director at EWFM, said: “Securing this contract is fantastic news for the whole group and will enable the FM division to further establish itself as an innovative company which continually drives new standards in the delivery of FM services.”

Sapphire will build, finance and operate the retirement villages over a 23-year period in partnership with the Council. The consortium comprises a number of firms, including the Your Housing Group, Kajima Partnerships Limited and Seddon Construction.

Councillor Ruth Rosenau, cabinet member for regeneration, planning and transportation, said: “This scheme will deliver new, high quality accommodation that is in demand in the city. We are pleased to announce Sapphire as the preferred bidder and the consortium has consistently demonstrated its ability to deliver in what has been a necessarily rigorous procurement process.

“We want to ensure city residents have the opportunity to live in the best quality accommodation, and we look forward to Sapphire delivering this scheme. It is an exciting development and the largest scheme of its kind to ever be developed in the city.”