Forrest agrees £70m contract

SOCIAL housing contractor Forrest has secured a £70m refurbishment and maintenance contract with Bolton at Home, which manages 18,000 former council houses.

The 10-year partnership involves the installation and repair of bathrooms and kitchens, electrical upgrades and rewiring, central heating and boiler renewal, external refurbishment and infrastructure works.

Chief executive of the Preston-based group, Lee McCarren, said: “Fostering long-term partnerships is the bedrock of our business and this latest agreement with Bolton at Home is testament to the strength of the relationship between the two organisations which has been established for many years now.

“Bolton and Greater Manchester are a key geographic area for us too, where we’ve made significant investments into creating new jobs and apprenticeships since we opened our regional operations hub in the town in 2011.”

Jim Higham, Bolton at Home’s director of technical services, said: “Over the years, Bolton at Home and Forrest have developed a solid partnership through working together to deliver our capital works programme. I’m delighted that with this latest appointment, we have the opportunity to build on our relationship for the benefit of our customers and communities.”