WYTHENSHAWE SUMMER FAYRE

Brookway School in Wythenshawe hosted a Summer Fayre for all Parkway Green Tenants on 25 July. Each of the four contractors involved was responsible for running a stand. As you can see from the picture being in the HTF stocks meant getting a soaking! Entertainment on the day included ballroom dancing, face-painting, mini manicures, bouncy castles, ball pools, gladiators, ice cream van etc. Attending on behalf of HTF were Paul Bell, Gemma Shaw, Marie Boswell, Kevin Riding, Graham Hacking, Mark Croston & John Chew.

The picture below shows Kevin, Paul and Graham at the HTF stand.

The following letter appeared in the Lancashire Evening Post on 29 July 2008

A big thanks to my two kind plasterers

"There has been a lot said and written about the Community Gateway Association but I have to give credit where it is due. Herbert T Forrest, the building company it employs to do its repairs, sent round two plasterers, Darren and Mick, who came to replaster my kitchen.

I just want to say a big thank you to them and their boss Neil, who gave me amazing consideration because I am not well and the job took twice as long because of it. They were here on time every morning and I was able to trust them whenever I had to go out."
Name and address supplied

Well done to Neil Pickup, Darren Pickup and Michael Pye!!

Community keen on kitchens

The St Helens office held an open day last month, the purpose being to fully explain the kitchen refurbishment programme to all the tenants. A sample kitchen was fitted in the Local Office reception area to demonstrate the new layout to the tenants. The day turned out to be quite a success with over 60 tenants showing up.

There was also a raffle held at the open day and prizes were presented to 2 very deserving tenants. The 1st Prize was a Jug Kettle and the 2nd Prize was a Toaster, both prizes were delivered by the local TLOs.

Celebrations

On the morning of her wedding day one of our residents on the Grange Estate, Preston Community Gateway contract awoke to the sound of builders rather than bells. The builders had arrived on the street and had erected a full scaffold around her house.

As a gesture of goodwill and for putting up with the clutter and the hassle the team, including the tradesperson on site in Preston, had a collection and presented the blushing bride with a bottle of champagne and a card wishing her all the best for her big day and life ahead.

She was more than happy to have numerous photos taken with all the boys on site including Hayden Bannister, the Community Gateway representative.

Harvey Longworth Court

Harvey Longworth Court was the first bathroom scheme for Housing 21. It consists of 39 bathrooms in total plus an extra communal toilet and a wardens flat.

Dave Cahoon was the site agent, Eamon Donnely and Chris Ruddle were the plumbers from the east division.

Whilst on site the team celebrated one of the residents (Bert) 93rd birthday, HT Forrest presented Bert with a cake and many happy returns of the day.

Blackpool Coastal Homes

The sun was shining at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool on the 23rd of April 2008, as it played host to the Blackpool Coastal Homes Tenant Conference. Herbert. T. Forrest was invited to hold a stall as one of the new main contractors on the planned maintenance framework.

John Chew, Steve Rich, Anne Doherty, Carol Carr and Beth Mercer manned the stall which saw over 700 residents visit to enquire about the work on their homes and pick up a few HTF goodies.

John Chew was one of the speakers at the event alongside people from other contractors on the framework.

Contract Win

We have been successful in securing a four-year contract with Bolton at Home. We have been selected as the sole external partner to deliver the Capital Improvement Programme. This partnership will be worth approximately £20 million and will result in us undertaking internal and external improvements to the housing stock across Bolton.

This is a significant win for us and we had to fight off some stiff competition from both the existing partners from phase one and from other contractors as Bolton at Home reduced its partners from five to one.

To be selected as the only one to go forward is testament to how we have delivered and kept our promises about local employment and training over the past four years. Securing this win has been a team effort, particularly the business development team and everyone who has worked on the Bolton at Home contract.

Partnership of the Month - April 2008

This month’s award goes to the team working on Community Gateway Schemes in Preston. The team have handed over all properties on time and defect free.
Well done to Simon Gornall, Chloe Strange and the rest of the team.

Partnership of the Month - January 2008

Congratulations to Graham Critchley and the Helena team. This team consistently performs at a high level and again has handed over the greatest number of properties in the monthand achieved 100% "pass first time".We wish the team well and would like to pass on our congratulations, hope you find time to go and celebrate in style.

Parkway Green 3000th improvement

Parkway Green achieved a major milestone in February. Since opening its doors for business and commencing its investment programme it has delivered over 3000 improvements. This is a result of a team effort, which includes a lot of hard work by Herbert T Forrest. As a means of celebrating this milestone, a presentation was held at Parkway Green by the local MP, Paul Goggins. Mark Croston, Gemma Shaw and Beth Mercer attended the presentation.

Cambridge Rd, Darwen

On 6th June Tim Forrest and John Chew attended the ribbon cutting ceremony at Cambridge Rd, Darwen where our company built nine bungalows for Twin Valley Homes. The Chief Executive of Twin Valley Homes, Phil Richards, cut the ribbon in what must have been a very proud moment for him as Twin Valley Homes move from strength to strength embarking on several new build schemes.

The Site Agent Gary Logsden, handed the scheme over on time after working several weekends to achieve this. A big thank you to Gary on behalf of the company. Twin Valley Homes were very impressed with the standard of the finish of the bungalows. Our company sees new build housing as an important part of our future workload as the Decent Homes improvements are completed and Twin Valley Homes are an important client for us. Gary has moved onto another new build scheme for Twin Valley at Ashworth St comprising of twenty-three new bungalows and houses. Our company is also due to start another twenty-four this winter.

Partnership of the Month Award

As part of our drive for continuous improvement we have introduced a ‘Partnership of the Month Award’. Each month a Partnership team will win the prize for best performer in the company. This will be based on various criteria and linked to the key performance indicators adopted by the company such as health and safety, customer satisfaction, first time handovers, time in property etc. Sometimes the prize will be awarded to all employees in the winning team and sometimes to an individual – dependant on the monthly prize.

The first award in August was based on the number of properties handed over to our Quality Control Inspectors by the Site Agent and passed as complete. This is an important goal of our company to get the work done correctly first time. Incredibly two teams finished joint first with a perfect 100%. We must pass our congratulations to all employees working in the partnerships of Places for People and Helena Housing Trust.

In August the entire team member’s names from both partnerships were placed in a hat and Jeff Cunningham was drawn out the winner. Jeff has been a valuable member of the Places for People team carrying out quantity surveying duties. Jeff won the use of a BMW Z4 soft top supplied by our local dealer. Congratulations to Jeff, we are sure he will enjoy cruising round his local area of the Trough of Bowland.

September and October also provided some excellent results; the team from Wyre posted a ‘perfect ten’ in September and the Helena partnership team returned an impressive 99% for October, all team members will receive their prize shortly.

Analysis of the first quarter has shown an overall incremental improvement in performance which is one of the objectives of this initiative – well done everyone.

New Contracts

We have been successful in securing a major repair and improvement works contract with Community Gateway Association (CGA) to carry out a programme of works to a portfolio of approximately 6500 dwellings over a five year period.

The submission was a joint bid with Rok Durose and Gourlay under the FDG banner and will be worth circa £35 million over the contract period.

The investment by CGA in the housing stock will ensure that CGA meets the Decent Homes standard by the 2010 deadline. The works include roofing works, replacement windows and doors, upgrading of bathrooms, kitchens and heating and electrical installations and environmental works.

We have been selected as a framework installer for GM Procure.

GM Procure is a consortium of social housing providers with stock in the North West who are aiming to generate efficiencies and impact the local labour market by working collaboratively to procure construction materials and installers for their planned maintenance and investment programmes. GM Procure has a remit to invest these efficiencies directly into local businesses, jobs and skills together with improving the services to residents.

It is expected that the members of GM Procure will collectively invest over £1.5 billion in the repair and upkeep of properties between now and 2010, and it is anticipated that a substantial proportion of this will be channelled through GM Procure.

GM Procure is funded by its members together with central government funds – confirmation of grant funding from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister’s Efficiency Challenge Fund was received in October 2005.

GM Procure’s members include many of the major RSLs, LSVTs, ALMOs and Local Authorities in the North West region.

The vision of GM procure is as follows:
“GM Procure will work alongside its members, and in true partnership with its chosen suppliers and installers to develop and implement an innovative, integrated supply chain solution that significantly reduces supply chain inefficiencies, delivers best value for residents, creates opportunities to develop sustainable communities and optimises long-term social and economic benefits.”

We share this vision and commit to supporting GM Procure in reaching their goals.

We have been selected as one of the contractors chosen to deliver the kitchen and bathroom programme. The kitchen and bathroom replacement works arrangement is designed for public sector clients seeking contractors to undertake this type of replacement project to a high standard of installation and service.
The LHC Network is a specialist public sector building procurement consortium set up for use, free of charge, by any public sector organisation wishing to achieve efficiency savings in line with the Gershon Review without compromising quality.
The LHC Network is managed by LHC a not-for-profit organisation specialising in public sector building procurement.
Currently, over 260 social housing providers, Local Education Authorities and other Public Sector Organisations take advantage of the key benefits offered from procuring through the LHC Network and we look forward to developing a long and mutually beneficial relationship with the LHC.

As part of the Elevate East Lancashire pathfinder renewal scheme we have been awarded a four year partnership with Hyndburn Borough Council. The work comprises group repair, facelifting and environmental schemes and covers the period 2006-2010.
This contract has built on the success of our first scheme with Hyndburn which was awarded in
2005.

We are one of three contractors that have secured a four year partnership with Contour Housing Group Ltd to manage and deliver planned maintenance and investment works for its housing stock of 13 000+ units which are located in 27 Local Authority areas generally within the North West of England.

The works include replacement kitchens, bathrooms, windows and external doors, upgrading/replacing central heating systems, roof repairs, external works and other investment works. We have had a long relationship with Contour and we are looking forward to developing this further through the course of this partnership.

We have been successful in being selected onto the framework for new build and void refurbishment works with a value of over £1m per call-off contract.

PHG is a leading Registered Social Landlord operating in the North West of England. PHG’s core area of business concerns are new build development and property refurbishment for the provision of affordable homes to let and for sale.

Plus Housing Group Development Partnership (PHGDP) is a strategic partnership between PHG and Harvest Housing Group, acting in partnership with and on behalf of a number of “client partner” RSL’s, to deliver a development programme of homes for rent and sale under the Housing Corporations National Affordable Homes Programme 2006-08.

PHG and the members of the PHGDP have significant development programmes investing in property across the North West of England and are looking to streamline their procurement processes by the implementation of the Framework Agreement.

The current members of the Plus Housing Group Development
Partnership are:
Plus Housing Group
Harvest Housing Group
CDS Housing Association Ltd
Greater Hornby Homes Ltd
Manchester and District
Housing Association Ltd
Derwent and Solway
Housing Association Ltd
Frontis Homes Ltd
Cosmopolitan Housing
Association Ltd
South Liverpool Housing
Association Ltd
South Liverpool Regeneration Ltd
Chester and District Housing Trust

DONATION OF HIGH-VISABILITY CLOTHING TO PRIMARY SCHOOLS

Herbert T Forrest regards health and safety as a company priority and we take the welfare of our employees and third parties extremely seriously. Our entire Workforce is supplied with personal protective equipment, which includes high-visibility waistcoats. This “high-viz” clothing is particularly important for our operatives when working close to highways on dark winter mornings and evenings.

Most of the work undertaken by our company is carried out in residential areas and our company vehicles spend much of their time on estate roads and frequently we work in close proximity to schools. Prior to school start time the footpaths and road crossings are busy with children and parents on their way to school and we are very much aware of the dangers to these pedestrians on dark mornings and evenings. We believe that this danger could be considerably reduced if pedestrians wore “high-viz” clothing similar to that issued to our own workforce. As a gesture of good will we have spoken with a number of schools within Wigan, St Helens, Blackburn and Accrington and are donating a number of “high-viz” waistcoats in children’s sizes to each of the schools.

Fusion CIPS Supply Management Awards

Again we are involved with an award winning partnership with Fusion 21. In 2004 Fusion celebrated with four awards, one of which was the Building Home Quality award for Supply Chain Management.

Fusion 21 Partnership

After almost two years of presentations and interviews our company was appointed as a Partnering Contractor for the award winning Fusion 21 partnership. We are very proud to have been appointed as one of the few contractors as the selection process was very onerous. Our company policies of training, maintaining quality and collaborative working with clients all figured highly in our selection. We will be undertaking a mixture of window, kitchen and bathroom replacement schemes. We will be shortly establishing a regional office in the Merseyside area.

To give you an insight into the principles of Fusion 21 we have taken an extract from The Housing Forum website in the Constructional Excellence section where it appears as a demonstration project underlying its importance. Indeed the principles of Fusion 21 have been lauded by the Deputy Prime Minister and he has stated that this method of procurement is the way forward.

extract:

Fusion 21 is a groundbreaking partnership of seven Merseyside housing associations and Knowsley Council. It is revolutionising the way that Social Landlords work with the Construction sector by providing a holistic response to the Government's regeneration agenda.

During its first year, Fusion 21 has already developed a unique procurement approach, which has already saved our members millions of pounds in Installer, and Supplier costs.

Additionally Fusion 21 has also stemmed the skills shortage on Merseyside by giving 200 unemployed people new training and helping them prepare for work. A total of 120 trainees have already been employed within Fusion 21, and other projects as a result of this action.

In the first two years the partnership has achieved the following:

• Contract values on site £7.8m circa £1.8m completed Dec 03
• A networking and learning culture has been established
• The Product Teams have been established and have:
• Agreed common performance specifications across all the Housing Association Partners
• They have designed and implemented Partner Installer and Supplier selection processes based on quality, service and cost.
• They have maintained a very high level of quality whilst achieving significant cost savings
• They are managing specific issues by establishing specialist corrective action teams
• They have identified numerous opportunities for improvement and added value.

In addition to explaining how the above has been achieved, a further aim of the project is to highlight the true partnering relationships which have been created at every level of the Supply Chain as a result of the function of this unique model.

Fusion 21 has also signed up to the Housing Forum/ CITB ConstructionSkills joint initiative Sustainable Training for Sustainable Communities to focus on the skills shortages in the industry. The achievements in this demonstration project have been recognised by collecting the award for Best Approach to Partnering and Supply Chain Management at the Building Homes Quality Awards organised by Building and in association with the Housing Forum.

Bolton at Home - Cheese and Wine Evening

PRESS RELEASE: First published on Saturday 26 June 2004

A REGENERATION company has finished a programme of external improvements on a housing estate in Tonge Moor.

Roofing work, along with improved guttering and flagstones, was carried out on 220 properties on the Moorfield estate.

And the firm Herbert T Forrest, a partner of community housing company Bolton at Home, said a big thank you to residents on the nearby Glaisdale Close - who have watched lorries rolling past their houses every day - with a wine and buffet party.

Ken Godfrey, liaison officer for HT Forrest, said: "We are indebted to them for their tolerance and understanding as I am sure we tried their patience on many occasions."

Toasting the improvements are residents and representatives of the firm.