Two new grounds maintenance contractors are looking forward to transforming communal areas and gardens across White Horse Housing Association’s area this mouth.
Ben Head of Chippenham-based Dependable and Tom Bolton of Upton Lovell firm Upton Garden and Fencing have won the tenders for grass cutting, hedge trimming and all the other work needed to get the association’s outdoor areas looking trim and tidy.
Tom and his team will be looking after sites in Westbury and Warminster while Ben’s team of 15 will be taking all of the other areas. Both say they will be out and about over the coming weeks and look forward to meeting tenants.
“I want to meet and sort of greet the residents and get to know them,” said Tom, who has been running his business for three years. “I’m local, so obviously I see the sites every day, and some of it is right by my kids’ school, so obviously it means something to me as well.
“I hope people will have a chat, I’m very approachable and I’m keen to help wherever I can.”
Ben founded his company in 2009 and sees the White Horse contract as a perfect fit. “Walking around some of the sites, I could see what we’re being asked to do is bread and butter to us, it's just something that we do on a regular basis.
“I think just performing at our most basic standard will see us improve things straight away.”
Because both firms are relatively small they will try to use the same workers on each site so they get to know it. “The continuity and the communication is key,” said Ben. “After every visit, we produce a report for every site with photographic evidence of what we've done and how we've done it. If we've noticed anything that's not quite right, it will go in the report.
“For the first couple of visits, we'll be cutting the hedges right back to how they should be. It's going to be an interesting time and a steep learning curve for us but we’re raring to go.”