A PARTNERSHIP to carry out improvements to the Wiltshire Council’s housing stock has seen work valued at £10m carried out.

The partnership, between Wiltshire Council and the Ian Williams company, has been running since April 2013 and sees the firm carry out planned maintenance, modernisation and renewals across the council’s 5,500 homes, including those in Cricklade and Royal Wootton Bassett.

During that period, Ian Williams workers operatives have replaced 542 kitchens and 464 bathrooms, installed 2,455 new windows and 818 external doors, and re-painted the outside of 2,112 homes, while 159 disabled residents have had their homes adapted to better meet their needs.

The firm also said it expects to employ between 40 and 60 local people on a long-term basis over the duration of the four-year contract and is currently seeking trainee surveyors and apprentice carpenters to work in the company’s Salisbury office.

Rob Lomas, Ian Williams general manager, said: “We have enjoyed working with Wiltshire Council over the past two years and we’re really pleased with the work that has been done to date.

“Thousands of people living in the area have benefited from some kind of modernisation or improvement to their home, and the feedback we’ve had has been very positive.”

“We look forward to building on the excellent work already done in the years ahead, and to hopefully working with the council for many years to come.”

Richard Hamer, contract manager at Wiltshire Council, said: “Our planned maintenance programme is determined by lifecycle component renewal and by the need to meet the Decent Homes Standard and the views of our tenants and leaseholders.

“Condition of our tenants’ homes is paramount to us, as are the views of our tenants as to the look and feel of the upgrade works we carry out.”

Anyone interested in employment opportunities with Ian Williams should contact Tim Yates, business manager, on 01722 568160 or tim.yates@ianwilliams.co.uk