Sam will be leading our procurement activities, delivering the compliant procurement of new framework agreements, long term contracts and the DPS. He will oversee all framework mini-competitions, direct contract awards and DPS tenders and take responsibility for our ongoing supply chain relationships.

Sam has extensive professional experience in public procurement, as well as a wealth of knowledge of the wider housing and construction sectors.

We are also pleased to announce the appointment of Sarah Davey as CHIC’s new Head of Development. Sarah has experience of working both with the public and private sectors, as well as having considerable knowledge of construction and housing sectors. Sarah has worked in project management in the construction industry for the last sixteen years.

As Head of Development Services, she is the lead contact for CHIC’s new build services BuildSmart, providing access to contractors and consultants through a DPS and specifically aiming to promote MMC through a suite of off-Site manufacture supply and turnkey contractors

If you would like to get in touch with Sarah, please email sdavey@chicltd.co.uk or phone 07748 375181

For any other queries, please contact enquiries@chicltd.co.uk

In Other News

Raising money for Crisis

Last year and potentially for much of 2021, the pandemic has put many important events and socials gatherings on hold for us all. Although we couldn’t be together in one place, and despite being spread around the country, the CHIC team in collaboration with managing agent the ARK Consultancy set ourselves the challenge to (virtually) walk from Lands End to John O’Groats for the charity, Crisis in December. We chose to raise money for Crisis because we wanted to select a housing charity and even though 'Everybody In' has been one of the significant beneficial outcomes of the pandemic, we know homelessness has not gone away and so we wanted to play a small part in helping Crisis do the great work that they do.

Collectively we walked 1780 miles which means we made our way from Lands’ end, to John O’Groats (total 1111 miles) and then back to Birmingham!

So far, we have raised £1445, which is fantastic result and outperforming our expectations. A huge thank you to all that supported the cause, and to Victoria, Lesley, John and family for putting in the hard miles.

If you would like to donate to Crisis, please click here: https://www.crisis.org.uk/

New Members 

We would like to welcome all of the new members that have joined CHIC over the past few months to access some of our services:

• South Lake Housing
• Westfield HA
• Settle Group

With these organisations, CHIC now has 117 members and is supporting over 300 individual projects.

CHIC’s DPS Solutions

CHIC already has a wide range of other contract and framework solutions (including merchants, compliance, planned works, planned materials, newbuild off-site manufacture and legal services). In case you missed the announcement, we are now able to offer the following DPS framework solutions to our members:

• Agency
• All Under One Roof
• Appliances
• Asbestos
• Cleaning
• Development
• Energy
• Grounds Maintenance
• Fire Protection & Sprinkler Systems
• Furniture and Floor Covering
• Lone Worker and Tracker
• Telecoms
• Total Facilities Management

We also have the following frameworks and contracts due to be released in 2021:

• Cladding Surveys & Removal - January 2021
• Lifting Equipment - April 2021
• Consultancy - April 2021
• Planned Materials - April 2021
• Asbestos - April 2021
• Compliance - April 2021
• Technical Auditing - April 2021

If you would like to find out more, please keep an eye on our website at: https://www.chicltd.co.uk/frameworks-suppliers.

Last month we launched our new website. It is designed for members to find the information you are looking for quickly and easily!

CHIC Conference 2021

Due to the current restriction in the UK, we have decided to defer this years conference to much later in 2021. However, we wouldn’t want our members to miss out on our mid-year content on 9^th June. So, we will be running the usual keynote sessions as a CHIC Webinar instead, free for all CHIC members. Please watch this space for further updates and keep the date booked in your diaries.

“We encourage all parties to be as flexible as possible and be prepared to delay moves if necessary, for example if someone involved in the transaction becomes ill with COVID-19 during the moving process or has to self-isolate.”

Read More

The restart of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry has been delayed as a result of the COVID-19 restrictions. Following the Christmas break, phase two discussions were due to be held early in January, looking into the response of the fire and the events leading up to the tragedy. It is expected that this now will commence in February 2021.

Read More

Campaigners and housing bodies are urging the government to reinstate the eviction ban and the ‘Everyone In’ scheme to better support renters and rough sleepers. The groups argue that various housing measures must be implemented now to protect public health, with the new variant of COVID-19 being 70% more infectious.

Read More

The construction sector as a whole will remain operational, following safe working practices and social distancing guidelines.  The supply chain is striving to operate as close to normal as possible, reports show from an exercise undertaken with CHIC’s supply chain partners.

Read More

In Other News

The UK government has recently published its Energy White Paper, outlining how the UK will transition to clean energy sources. 

The white paper puts net zero at its core, following the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution. The Ten Point Plan sets out how government investment will leverage billions of pounds more of private investment and support up to 250,000 jobs by 2030.

The paper outlines how the UK will:

• Transform energy, building a cleaner, greener future for our country, our people and our planet
• Support a green recovery, growing our economy, supporting thousands of green jobs across the country in new green industries and leveraging new green export opportunities
• Create a fair deal for consumers, protecting the fuel poor, providing opportunities to save money on bills, giving us warmer, more comfortable homes and balancing investment against bill impacts

As the country is hit with another lockdown, we want to inform our members of the response and actions taken by the CHIC supply chain to support ongoing programmes. We have engaged all of our supply chain partners to understand how they are managing the continual challenges caused by the pandemic, and the safe working practices being implemented to adhere the UK Government – hands, face, space.

CHIC was keen to seek reassurance for our members that the supply chain is proactively responding to the new measures. As the construction sector largely remains operational, the impact on members is much less severe than last March, as there has been an opportunity for preparation this time around.

Many organisations came into the second lockdown in a strong position to support clients. With the brief period of halted works during the initial lockdown from March 2020, and the more recent Tier 4 restrictions, actions were already being taken to help minimise any disruption to work and customers. Management and operating systems have been widely adjusted to accommodate the levels of flexibility now required, ensuring minimal impact on day-to-day operations.

The supply chain is striving to operate as close to normal as possible, whilst following Government guidelines and safe systems of work, to ensure the safety of all residents and staff.

Most cyclical servicing and installation works are continuing. New build, void works and empty property refurbishments remain mostly unaffected. Planned works are generally continuing with resident agreement, with all services being delivered in a Covid secure way. Sourcing of some materials remains a cause of concern for some as lead times may be affected, however, there have not been significant reports of this as yet.

Managing risk is the top priority for all, to minimise the spread of the virus. Additional safety measures have been put into place, to meet individual members (and government) requirements. All appropriate PPE equipment is being issued to operational teams, including delivery drivers. A good practice example provided by one contractor was the requirement for all residents to complete a Covid questionnaire to ascertain any level of exposure before the commencement of any works.

Any non-essential places of work have been closed across all sectors, such as showrooms, and alternate ways of dealing with enquiries have been created. It is expected that this current lockdown may affect the evaluation of currently submitted tenders, which could impact on forward planning over the next few months.

Maintaining effective communication between staff and residents is a key lesson continued from lockdown one. Regular company-wide communications are now common practice, with a number of office-based staff working from home. Toolbox talks have been implemented to communicate latest guidance and working practices and when office-based work is essential, clear signage and safety protocols are enforced.

Risk assessments are regularly being carried out to ensure the safety of all stakeholders.

CHIC will continue to engage with the supply chain as we have since the beginning of the outbreak, to ensure we provide our members any information which may affect programmes.

CHIC’s Managing Director, John Fisher, notes “the effect of the pandemic over what is now almost a year has been extremely challenging for all our members and supply chain partners. So, starting 2021 with a 3^rd lockdown could have made this even more difficult. The feedback though from this extensive engagement with contractors and suppliers shows how we have all adapted quickly and effectively, to be able to continue to provide works and services to our members’ customers in a safe way”

If you would like any additional information from specific contractors on our frameworks, please get in touch with Joe Scurr jscurr@chicltd.co.uk

Stay safe,

The CHIC Team

Governments £2BN Kick start scheme

3SC has been appointed by Government (DWP) to manage the supply and placement of unemployed young people into 6 months' work placements, where salaries are met by Government and the employer receives a training grant of up to £1500.

Employers who wish to take advantage of the scheme can apply directly for requests for 30 placements or more but in the majority of cases member Housing Associations will only require low numbers. In such cases 3SC will package requests into parcels of 30.

3SC held similar contracts for Future Job Fund where they placed 6000 work placements, which included 500 to Housing Associations under the National Housing Federation umbrella.

There are several provider intermediaries. Why choose 3SC?

• 3SC provides a tailored service to meet the employers needs
• Employers can access their unique online learning platform to obtain training for their young person and for the rest of their staff too.

To discuss, seek further information or request a work placement candidate please contact our CHIC Social Value Manager Fred Bentley on either fbentley@arkconsultancy.co.uk, fred.bentley@3sc.org or mobile 07553 370037

Supporting Young People into Employment

CHIC places great importance on its Social Value activities which are featured within each Annual Report.

For 2019/20 it is pleasing to report that CHIC recruited 22 Apprentices from harder to reach groups such as NEETS and long term unemployed. An impressive retention rate of 81.4% was achieved.

One of the Local Employment Groups (LEGS) receiving support from CHIC is the Jericho Foundation from Balsall Heath who run a diverse range of Social Enterprises and social projects helping people to become fulfilled, skilled, and employed. They also operate contracts to rescue people from modern day slavery.

To read the full article, CLICK HERE. We feature two testimonials from young people who were employed at the large and very busy Jericho Reuse facility in Sutton Coldfield.