As part of a commitment to co-design services with customers and planned changes to repairs delivery Brighter Places, have appointed Ian Williams Ltd to provide its repairs and voids service to over 3,300 homes in Bristol and surrounding areas. Sureserve Compliance have been appointed to provide gas safety checks and heating services.

The repairs and voids contract is underpinned by a focus on resident engagement, ongoing improvement, innovation and social value so the service continually responds and adapts to resident needs, provides best value, employment opportunities and protects vital social housing in Bristol and the surrounding area.

The new repairs partnership follows a mutual agreement between Brighter Places and current provider Alliance Homes Partnerships Ltd to conclude their current partnership. This joint decision allows Alliance Homes to focus resources on enhancing services for their own customers and enables Brighter Places to redesign their repairs service in line with customer and colleague feedback.

The Ian Williams and Sureserve Compliance appointments follow a rigorous procurement process that put Brighter Places customers at its heart, with their feedback informing the service specification and customers taking part in reviewing proposals and meeting with bidders.

Brighter Places is Bristol’s largest independent housing association providing homes for over 8,000 people.

Anna Klimczak, Chief Executive for Brighter Places said, “Our focus is, and always will be, on providing safe, warm, good quality homes for our customers and reliable, good quality responsive repairs and gas servicing are critical to fulfilling this commitment.

We are delighted to appoint Ian Williams as our new repairs partner. They share our vision to provide a service that can adapt and improve through innovation and feedback to meet the needs of customers and their homes now and in the coming years as well as creating local jobs throughout the contract term. We are also pleased to welcome Sureserve Compliance as a new partner who have a long history of gas and heating servicing in social housing.”

Ian Williams are one of the UK’s largest family-owned property services companies with their head office in Chipping Sodbury. They specialise in social housing repairs and maintenance, carrying out over 200,000 responsive repair visits every year.

Craig Jones, Response Operations Director from Ian Williams said, “We are delighted to have been appointed to this contract and look forward to collaborating with Brighter Places to deliver high-quality repairs services. Having been established in the area since 1964, we are committed to making a meaningful impact within the local community. This contract provides us with an exciting opportunity to continue this work whilst developing and recruiting for our in-house teams, ensuring sustainable futures and supporting the local economy. Our local Ian Williams Brighter Places team are looking forward to meeting and getting to know customers at upcoming events.”

Sureserve Compliance are a leading heating servicing, maintenance and installation contractor supporting over 165,000 domestic properties across the North, Midlands and South West.  They have an established regional presence with a large team of regional engineers.

Pat Coleman, Managing Director from Sureserve Compliance said,  “Sureserve Compliance are delighted to have been chosen to deliver Gas Servicing and Maintenance to Brighter Places customers. Working in the South West for 10 years and with a large team of regional engineers, we will support Brighter Places customers with all of their heating and hot water needs. Sureserve Compliance have a long history of delivering a quality service within the Social Housing sector. We look forward to working closely with Brighter Places and building a true partnership.”

Brighter Places are working with Ian Williams and Sureserve Compliance to put everything in place ready for going live on 21 March 2025. All partners are focused on a seamless transition to the new arrangements for customers including no change to how customers can report repairs.

All current repairs and gas servicing will continue as normal ahead of the new contracts going live.

Bristol-based Ashtons Electrical will continue to provide electrical safety checks, servicing and fire alarm testing for Brighter Places customers.