We know that having green spaces that are well maintained is important to residents. Our Grounds Maintenance Services includes grass cutting, shrub and hedge maintenance and the delivery of grass cutting to some private gardens.
Our contractor, OUTCO informed us late last year that they could not continue to deliver our services at the cost originally set out when they were awarded the contract, so we have been working with a number of specialist purchasing organisations to compare pricing with competitors, to ensure value for money.
Our findings were that other company’s charges to deliver the same service were similar to the new costs that OUTCO were proposing. For those residents who pay for the private garden service, we also approached local small businesses to quote for the works. Again, we have found the prices to be similar to OUTCOs new price, which is positive.
As Spring approaches and to prevent the possibility of significant disruption, we have agreed to extend the arrangement with OUTCO for most areas for a one-year period whilst we work with residents to review the grounds maintenance and associated services – agree what it should look like in the future, at what cost and who we should work with to deliver it.
Some of our East Riding sites will be transferred to a local business on a one-year basis, and those residents affected by this have been individually notified.For private gardens, we have chosen to trial a couple of other local garden maintenance businesses, with OUTCO continuing to maintain the remainder.
We have also notified residents who receive this service from a new business, who they are and their contact details. The specifications remain the same, in summary, a cut and collect service over 18 growing season visits and 3 winter visits, hedge trimming 3 times per year, summer and winter bed maintenance, 2 summer shrub prunes, and trimming every 4 weeks over the summer. We know that this is an important service for residents. By using several providers, we will be able to work with residents and use feedback to compare their performance, which will help us with our review. So please get in touch and tell us if you feel they do a good job, or indeed if there are any concerns.
If you would like to take part in the review, please get in touch.
01482 223783 or by email info@pfh.org.uk
