Kier celebrates event success in Lincoln

Published by Elizabeth Pokorny for Kier Services in Housing and also in Communities

Kier is celebrating a successful supplier engagement day in Lincoln, having welcomed local contractors to meet the team and learn more about opportunities to work with the company. Kier is carrying out Decent Homes improvements to more than 8,000 social housing properties across the city.

The event was hosted by Constructionline, the government-owned prequalification certification scheme for contractors, consultants and material suppliers. More than 140 contractors attended the event, with eight in ten of these coming from Lincoln and the surrounding areas. Of these local contractors, 83 took away information on how to submit their prices to Kier for future opportunities. Having heard about the wider opportunities a partnership of this nature can provide, many attendees commented on how beneficial the supplier engagement day is for local contractors.

Kier regional managing director, Simon Bullen, said: “Kier is committed to supporting the local economy in areas in which we work and, as part of this, we were proud to welcome so many potential new partners to our supplier engagement day. By working with external organisations we are able not only to share our wealth of experience, but also discover new ways to approach projects or initiatives, as well as support local companies.”

As a leading provider of housing maintenance across the country, including work with local authorities and social housing landlords, Kier is investigating ways to further develop its presence and economic impact in Lincolnshire by working alongside local suppliers and subcontractors.

Constructionline sales manager, Rebecca Sperti, said: “It can prove difficult for local contractors to have the opportunity to get involved with large organisations, such as Kier. The fact that so many suppliers attended the engagement day and expressed how useful it was demonstrates how important events like these are in helping both suppliers and buyers build strong and ongoing working relationships. Through our programme of supplier engagement days and larger meet the buyer events, we want to continue to help suppliers find and secure work and we want to make it easier for businesses to find reliable, local construction companies.” 

Kier is currently bidding for a new planned maintenance partnering contract with the City of Lincoln Council to undertake a programme of investment improvement works for the next five to ten years and is looking to develop relationships with local subcontractors.

Constructionline hosts a national programme of supplier engagement days throughout the year. If you are contractor to the construction industry and would like to attend this event visit: http://www.constructionline.co.uk/static/news/March2012/EMidlandsMTB.html

To find out more about Kier in Lincoln visit www.kier.co.uk/maintenance