Troubled contractor loses Liverpool deal
Liverpool Mutual Homes has decided to cancel a contract with troubled social housing contractor Kinetics Group.
The 15,000-home association terminated a repairs and maintenance and gas services contract because it did not believe Kinetics was fulfilling its contractual obligations. The contract will end in August, seven months early. More than 240 Kinetics staff will transfer to LMH.
Steve Coffey, chief executive of Liverpool Mutual Homes, said: ‘Delivering excellent services to our customers is an absolute priority.
‘However, in the opinion of LMH we have major concerns regarding the compliance of our contractor Kinetics Group Limited with its contractual obligations.
‘Despite working with the contractor for some time to try to address these major concerns it has not been possible to achieve a resolution. We have a duty to our customers to make sure we provide them with the best services possible.’
A spokesperson said Kinetics was disappointed by LMH’s decision.
Chris Cheshire, chief executive of Kinetics, said: ‘It is the nature of the maintenance business and not unusual that contracts come to an end and we can now devote our energies to our remaining LMH projects.’
Kinetics will continue to carry out construction work for LMH.
The news of the contract termination comes days after Inside Housing revealed that Kinetics secured an extra £2 million from private equity firm Sovereign Capital. The decision was taken after Kinetics suppliers slashed the time it was allowed to pay for goods from 90 to 30 days, hitting the firm’s cash flow.
