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Sovereign to merge maintenance arms
Sovereign is to combine its two property maintenance arms, closing a subsidiary that once managed 45,000 homes for other housing providers.
The 57,000-home housing association, which took over Spectrum Housing Group in 2016 and is one of southern England’s largest landlords, will bring Sovereign Response and Spectrum Property Care (SPC) under the Sovereign banner by 2020.
It has been on an insourcing drive since the Spectrum merger, bringing all repairs in-house in April last year and other contracts since.
Sovereign had previously said it would retain SPC as a subsidiary, but the firm will now cease to exist.
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A spokesperson for the association told Inside Housing: “In early 2017, we thought we could retain the two maintenance brands, both of which had a strong reputation.
“However, we now believe that a single maintenance team is the right approach for the business as it continues to grow and we focus on providing a good customer service to our residents.”
Before the Sovereign-Spectrum merger, SPC managed 45,000 homes for other housing providers.
Steve Barford, executive director of property services at Sovereign, said: “Given the focus on providing a service to Sovereign residents, we’re speaking to clients about a gradual withdrawal from any external contracts, many of which are due to end in the next year to 18 months.”
Sovereign said external contracts represent only 8% of its “overall maintenance activity” and that 11 clients have been contacted about ending the contracts. It intends to expand the new maintenance team, with no redundancies planned as part of SPC’s closure.
Mr Barford added: “Since the merger, we’ve been delivering services to our residents through two in-house teams: Sovereign Response and Spectrum Property Care.
“While they’ve both provided a great service, the time has come to bring these teams together as one under the Sovereign brand, with a single management structure from spring 2019.
“We believe this will ultimately lead to a more efficient service for residents and, as we continue to bring even more maintenance work in-house, we can grow the team and focus on providing a quality service.”
Sovereign has seen high levels of turnover in its senior staff since completing the Spectrum merger in November 2016.
Long-standing chief executive Ann Santry, deputy chief executive Richard Hill and chair Katherine Innes Ker all announced last year that they would be leaving the organisation.
And last week, Sovereign announced the appointment of a new interim chief financial officer, with existing finance director Mark Hattersley leaving to join Clarion.
