Pictured above: Birmingham engineer on call
Sixty Willmott Dixon repairs and maintenance engineers working
in properties owned by Birmingham City Council have learnt new
life-long skills that will enhance the service they
provide.
The company has invested over £500,000 in providing the
engineers with a multi-skilled NVQ qualification in Building
Maintenance that enables them to carry out a wider number of repair
tasks in council-owned homes, reducing the need for extra visits as
well as time spent in each property.
While most of the engineers hold a qualification in one
particular trade, possessing the additional NVQ means they have
skills to complete several trade tasks, in areas such as carpentry,
plastering and plumbing, which they were not previously trained to
do.
It brings the numbers of qualified multi-skilled Willmott Dixon
engineers working in the north of Birmingham to 151. They are part
of the company's response team working with Birmingham City Council
to repair and maintain 60,000 properties across the city.
Willmott Dixon Partnerships has two contracts for the north and
south of the city, covering areas such as Edgbaston, Hall Green,
Northfield, Selly Oak, Ladywood, Erdington, Perry Bar and Sutton
Coldfield. The training is part of a process that aims to reduce
the cost of this service by £47m over the five year terms of
the two contracts.
Pauline Chatt, Willmott Dixon's branch manager in the north of
Birmingham, said, "This investment in skills means that when our
team visit homes to complete a repair, they can achieve more in one
visit, thereby reducing the inconvenience to our customers of
return visits."
Mick Williamson, managing director of Willmott Dixon
Partnerships, added, "Our company is committed to making sure our
engineers have a multi-skilled qualification, so that those
qualified in a single discipline, such as plastering or carpentry,
develop their skills in other areas.
"As well as reducing the time we need to spend in homes, the
extra qualification will ensure our people can also develop as
individuals."
Willmott Dixon Group is one of the UK's largest privately-owned
capital works, regeneration and support services companies. With
over 158 years of experience, the company provides services within
the built environment to Government, registered social landlords,
local authorities and private sector clients throughout the UK.
The Group's repairs specialist, Willmott Dixon Partnerships,
works with local authorities and social housing landlords to
provide support services to over 120,000 homes, 1,200 public
buildings and 50 commercial properties across the UK.