A collaborative planned investment partnership which is helping North East housing providers save millions on the installation of new kitchens in social homes was launched in the region last week.
Working with leading kitchen manufacturer JTC Furniture, Gentoo, alongside seven other members of the North East Housing Partnership (NEHP) have collaborated to align their planned investment programmes for new kitchens, which is expected to provide savings of over £10million over the next ten years.
Facilitated by procurement and collaboration experts Prosper, the groundbreaking collaborative partnership is one of the first of its kind nationally. As well as providing efficiency, flexibility and cost savings for the housing providers, the wider collaboration will also see improved customer choice, sustainability, reductions in waste management, added social value and the creation of jobs for local people including social housing residents.
John Johnston, Chair of the North East Housing Partnership, said: “Our members have been collaborating across many different areas, looking to achieve efficiency and cost savings by working closely together while maintaining a great service for our customers.
“Working with Prosper and JTC, this project enables us to pool our planned investment and deliver huge savings – while generating social value and jobs for our local communities.”
The initiative has been spearheaded by NEHP members, Karbon Homes, Gentoo, believe housing, Bernicia, Thirteen Group, North Star Housing, North Tyneside Council and Railway Housing.
To support the partnership, JTC has expanded its regional hub in the North East by securing a new 10-year lease on a new 10,000 sq. ft. regional assembly and distribution centre based in Cramlington, Northumberland, which will hold stock of kitchen units.
With the new distribution centre, JTC is working in partnership with NEHP members’ employability teams to create pathways into employment for social housing residents. Based on current commitments, eight employment opportunities within JTC have already been created, including the appointment of trainee warehouse operatives, a general manager and three surveyors. They are currently advertising another surveyor role with a further seven roles forecast to be created as the partnership scales up volume.
Marc Edwards, Executive Director of Property at Gentoo, said:
“This collaboration is a great example of how housing providers can work together to deliver better outcomes for customersacross the North East. We are proud to be a part of the NEHP and working closely with JTC and Prosper. This partnership is pioneering for the sector and has allowed us toinvest in high‑quality kitchens for our homes, generate significant long‑term savings, and support local jobs and skills across the North East. This partnership demonstrates the scale of the opportunities we have if we work together.
“The social value created through this partnership is just as important as the financial efficiencies. We’re already seeing the real impact of that, with a Gentoo customer recently securing employment with JTC through this work. It demonstrates how collaboration like this can open up genuine opportunities for residents, while helping us reinvest savings back into services that matter most to our customers.”
Colin Tweddell, Executive Director – Social Housing at JTC, said: “We are delighted to be working in collaboration with Prosper and NEHP members to support them with the supply and distribution of kitchens over the next ten years. Our investment in the region and our growth in the North East is supported with over 38 years’ experience in the sector and we have further demonstrated our commitment by securing our new distribution hub here in Cramlington. “We have been working closely with partners to determine the current specification of their kitchen ranges and using this data to help us create a streamlined specification that will boost manufacturing, ordering and cost efficiency. We are very excited to see how this partnership evolves and look forward to working with Prosper and our NEHP partners.”
£7.5m of the savings are expected to be achieved through all members aligning to a standard specification of kitchen, which will also ensure all residents receive the same level of quality product regardless of their landlord. A further saving of £2.5m could be expected in waste disposal costs from end-of-life kitchens and general wood waste being recycled over the next ten years.
A new sustainability and waste management initiative will see wood waste segregated and collected from site by Timberpak, part of Egger. The waste will be collected in Timberpak skips which are more economical than general waste skips and is somewhere landlords can dispose of their wood waste saving them money and creating a circular economy.
Rod Brasington, Chief Executive of Prosper, said: “This is a perfect example of what can be achieved through true collaborative partnership working. We have been working with our landlord partners and JTC to determine their requirements, constraints and issues and developed a value engineered proposal that not only creates cost savings, but also provides sustainability initiatives, reduces waste management costs, creates local employment opportunities and provides social value contributions. “The potential scale of this collaboration is huge and I’d like to thank JTC and those NEHP partners already committed to the project for their strategic foresight and vision of what can be achieved. “With everything included, over the next ten years, this kitchen collaboration could potentially save more than £10 million. This is a significant achievement for the sector and represents one of the first collaborative partnerships of its kind nationally and it is based in Prosper’s North East heartland which is brilliant for the region.”
