Feature – Northern Housing Consortium
Since August 2022, procurement specialists Prosper has seen considerable growth in its service to provide procurement frameworks specialising in decarbonisation retrofit works.
The organisation launched the first-to-market decarbonisation retrofit and investment works framework to assist social landlords and local authorities across the UK in improving the carbon emissions from their housing stock while reducing energy costs for their residents.
This market-leading framework provides an innovative compliant solution route to delivery through appointed contractors and enables decarbonisation retrofit works to be delivered including an option to deliver traditional investment works.
The framework complements the work supported through the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund and ECO4 works.
The popular framework has already unlocked more than £200 million worth of construction opportunities for landlords.
These opportunities have not only enabled landlords to improve and invest in their housing stock, but it has also presented an opportunity to create new green jobs within the supply chain and provide existing employees with the chance to upskill and gain additional qualifications.
In one example, Prosper facilitated a unique strategic partnership with North East landlord believe housing. The partnership called be:ONE, which also includes Buston & Maughan Group, RE:GEN Group, Sendrig Construction Limited and Sunter Limited, was established to encourage greater collaboration by working together to achieve significant savings, improve customer experience, and maximise the impact of social value in communities.
Around 5,600 homes will benefit from the works over the next four years, including the installation of new kitchens, bathrooms, windows and doors, full electrical re-wires, boilers, central heating systems and new roofs making the homes more energy efficient, reducing their carbon footprint and helping residents to reduce their bills.
There is a strong focus on supporting the local economy and employment, with a commitment to creating new jobs and apprenticeships and allowing business growth.
Ruth Dent, Director of Assets and Compliance at believe housing, said:
“We’re passionate about providing healthy homes that are fit for the future and, while this investment will improve the homes of thousands of our customers, we want its impact to go much further.
“All too often in the sector, contractors are not given the visibility they need to be able to upskill and invest. We want to change this, and by doing so we can all achieve more.
“At believe housing we are proud to have had real successes by taking a more collaborative approach and by being open and transparent with our partners.
“The be:ONE partnership continues this by bringing contractors together with a common goal. Working as one team we can exchange best practices, streamline operations, drive performance and innovation, and amplify our social value offer.
“It will improve outcomes for customers, and help the businesses to support one another’s growth and, ultimately, support the north east housing and construction sector.”
Due to the significant growth of Prosper’s business operations, the company is about to launch a revised Retrofit framework which is set to unlock up to £1 billion in opportunities enabling landlords to strive for Net Zero with the option to include standard investment works such as damp and mould, voids and repairs and maintenance works.
In preparation for the launch of the new framework, Prosper has further strengthened its own team with two key appointments. Kirsty Dodd has joined the organisation as Head of Operations and is responsible for business planning and strategy. Working alongside Prosper’s Head of Strategy and Governance, she has a wealth of knowledge and experience of procurement from her previous roles and it was Prosper’s focus on sustainability in this sector which attracted her to apply for the position.
After a brief spell in teaching, she founded a company developing an innovative product to reduce carbon footprint of the construction industry. Commenting on her appointment, she said:
“My love of strategy makes this role a perfect fit. I’m really excited to be joining such an ambitious and forward-thinking company and I’m looking forward to helping Prosper develop, grow and achieve its vision. The decarbonisation and sustainability areas of the business align so well with my background and ambitions.”
Also joining the business is Rachel Hunter who has been appointed as a Procurement and Contracts Manager and joins from her previous role where she worked as a supply contracts manager for an energy company – a position she held for six years.
Rod Brasington, CEO of Prosper, said:
“Over the years, we’ve seen significant growth and adoption of our decarbonisation retrofit framework and have developed market-leading knowledge about how to plan and deliver decarbonisation projects.
“We are continuing to grow in this area with the launch of our new procurement framework specialising in decarbonisation retrofit works and as a result, we have scaled up our own team to meet the demands and delivery of this solution to support clients.
“Kirsty and Rachel both bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to their roles and we’ve restructured the business to align with our growth aspirations and build sufficient resources and expertise to continue to provide an excellent service to our clients.”