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Construction giant Wates buys housing association’s £120m repairs business
Construction giant Wates has acquired a services and repairs business from a North West housing association.
Wates has acquired Liberty from 24,000-home association ForHousing. Following the deal, Liberty’s 1,100 employees will join the Wates Property Services business.
Wates said the acquisition will take its employee base to more than 6,000 and support the company’s expansion into the heating and compliance market, as well as renewable energy services.
Liberty specialises in social housing and has 50 social housing clients along with its subsidiary Net Zero Collective. Clients include Home Group, Leeds City Council, Magenta Living, MHS Homes Group, Onward and Riverside.
The business covers the North West, North East and South West of England, and posted turnover of £120m in 2023-24.
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It is headquartered in Knowsley in Merseyside, and has other centres in Manchester, Leeds, Portsmouth, Havant and Cardiff.
Liberty will continue to trade under its own name as part of Wates Property Services, while delivering services including property repairs, maintenance, heating and compliance, as well as construction and decarbonisation projects.
Wates’ portfolio of businesses span development, construction, retrofit and property services. The group posted turnover of £2.2bn in 2023-24.
David Morgan, executive managing director at Wates Property Services, said: “We’ve been actively seeking a specialist property support business to expand and strengthen our existing expertise in the social housing sector, and extend our range of services into the areas of heating and compliance, as well as renewable energy services.
“In Liberty, we’ve found the strategic fit we were looking for.”
Eoghan O’Lionaird, chief executive of Wates Group, said: “Wates and Liberty are both purpose-driven businesses. At Wates, we reimagine places for people to thrive, ensuring all our work brings positive benefit to people, places and planet.
“We are pleased to be bringing together companies that share these values, as well as a successful track record in this sector. We look forward to welcoming our new colleagues as we take this exciting step into the future together.”
Ray Jones, group managing director of Liberty, said: “By joining Wates, we enter the next stage of our growth and development.
“Our combined service provision brings a stronger offer to both existing and potential clients, especially in property and renewable energy decarbonisation – services to which Liberty and Wates are strongly connected.
“This new step forward will ensure continued high-quality services for Liberty’s current clients and their tenants, as well as an exciting future for Liberty and Wates and our people.”
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