27 September 2006 | Rebecca Ellinor
Consultancy EC Harris has won a deal to develop a procurement business plan for Advantage South West, which helps build affordable homes.
South Somerset Homes, Ocean Housing Group, North Devon Homes and Devon & Cornwall Housing set up Advantage South West (ASW) two years ago to provide factory built timber frame homes that can be constructed on site in half the time it takes using traditional construction methods.
Partners of ASW have been joined by six other local housing associations to develop a procurement consortium. Owning 44,000 homes across Cornwall, Devon and Somerset, it will spend more than £86 million in the next five years on capital works programmes. EC Harris will help the consortium make the most of its combined purchasing power.
David Renwick, chair of ASW, said: "Having successfully worked together to procure new homes built using modern methods of construction, it makes sound business sense for members of the partnership to explore other forms of collaborative working. By pooling our combined capital works budgets we should be able to secure considerable economies of scale. The expertise that EC Harris brings to the equation will be crucial in helping us to achieve our goals."
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