The company responsible for maintaining council homes and buildings in Stoke-on-Trent is looking to team up with specialist contractors and suppliers.
Unitas, which is wholly owned by the City Council and independently operated, has just signed an extension of its contract after an initial five years.
The organisation is the main repair and maintenance company for the City Council’s 17,600 homes and around 600 public buildings.
To help with the variety of work involved within the new five-year contract, it is now seeking specialist contractors and suppliers with which to form long-term partnerships in the form of a Framework agreement.
Russell Smith, Programme and Procurement Manager for Unitas, said: “With a number of opportunities on offer, we’re looking forward to welcoming businesses large and small onto our framework.
“Medium Term Contracts give our partners a number of benefits including the opportunity of high-value work, fast payment terms and the opportunity of working with Unitas’ award-winning tradespeople.
“For our customers, the benefit is how quickly we can start work because the contracts we would normally need a partner to enter into are already complete.”
The announcement is likely to be good news for local firms. It comes as the new Labour administration in control of the city council has pledged to award more contracts locally as part of a review of the authority’s procurement process.
Council Leader Jane Ashworth said that only a third of council contracts (with a distribution value of £1 million out of £20 million) stay within the city and that she was determined to stop that “haemorrhaging” of money.
Unitas Director Stephen Garner said: “Unitas provides a wide range of services across Stoke-On-Trent and is proud to support growth and opportunities within the region and communities in which it operates.
“We’re currently looking for dedicated, professional contractors to support our construction, repairs and maintenance projects through our framework opportunities.”
Work areas covered by the framework include Asbestos Surveying, Asbestos Removal, Door and Canopy Installations, General Building Work, Roofing, Scaffolding, Central Heating and Boiler Installation, Bathroom Renewal and Kitchen Renewal.
Businesses wishing to submit tenders via an e-procurement portal can click here
- Unitas has achieved a Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents Gold Award, given back more than £1million in Corporate Social Responsibility payback in the 2022/23 financial year and completed in excess of 1 million hours’ work since a reportable incident under health and safety regulations.
