Name:

Gary Wilkinson, Property Manager

Number of properties and location:

645 located in East Northamptonshire

Direct Labour Organisation (DLO) used?

Yes

Merchants Used?

Buildbase, Plumbing Trade Supplies (PTS)

Why did you take up the PfH Materials Agreement?

The Materials Agreement allowed Rockingham Forest Housing Association to exercise flexibility, transparency and efficiencies in the procurement of responsive repairs materials. It also communicates to our supply chain that the Association is willing to understand and maximise efficiencies in procurement and is serious about the combined purchasing power of group procurement.

What benefits has PfH created for your organisation?

It has allowed us to integrate procurement in all maintenance strategies. National suppliers now listen to the smaller organisations where previously only the larger RSLs had the bargaining power to maximise economies of scale. PfH has also demonstrated that a common price is available to all Members.

Was it easy to set up with the Account Cards?

No problem at all. The administration and organisation at PfH was swift and efficient and you have direct access to decision makers should you have a query.

How did you make changes with your contractors? What did you have to consider? How easy was it?

We are running the scheme on trial inhouse with our property maintenance technician who conducts a large percentage of our works. This is due for completion and will be rolled out to a select number of approved contractors. There is a lot of consideration to take place, for example contractors traditionally make a profit on materials and obviously this will have an impact. Trust is a key element which is required and a robust material audit trail must be implemented.

What savings do you expect to make annually?

This is an unquantifiable saving as different contractors put different mark ups on materials. But it is envisaged that a 3% saving will be made on the cost of repairs that the PfH card is used for.

Have you managed to reinvest your procurement cost savings?

This saving will be reported and used in the annual efficiency saving report submitted to the Housing Corporation; the money always goes back into the budget to develop innovative ways to help residents

How will your residents and their neighbourhoods benefit from this reinvestment?

We are running some really exciting projects at the moment which are all financed by savings made over the whole organisation. They include summer sports school, IT training for residents and mini wind turbine and solar water heating trials.