13 March 2003
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Leading independent property services operator, the Erinaceous Group has announced that three of its trading arms - Kennedy Haywards Ltd, WMS Haywards Ltd, Haywards Fineman Lever Ltd - will become a single operational division, called Haywards Property Services Ltd, with effect from 31 March.
Neil Bellis, Chief Executive, said: “The group has grown rapidly over the last four years and the change has been decided in order to simplify internal structures, streamline operations and avoid duplication of effort.
“It is a natural progression in our strategy to deliver a “one-stop” quality service to our clients in the public and private sectors.”
Bellis added that there would be no redundancies, although one or two staff members were being offered retraining as part of a programme to eliminate any duplication that might exist.
Privately owned, the Erinaceous Group provides a comprehensive range of services spanning estate management, building consultancy, insurance and support services to the residential lettings sector. It also provides management services to some 9,000 council houses and flats, and 13,000 privately owned flats.
Headquartered at Phoenix House, Crystal Palace, the group was established in 1999 and employs more than 650 staff. It has a strong growth record and individual subsidiaries have long trading histories.
The structural change follows the recent appointment of Nigel Turnbull and Lord Razzall as non-executive Chairman and non-executive Director, respectively.
For further information please contact:
Paul Desmond / Marylene Guernier
Tavistock Communications Ltd
Tel 020 7600 2288
Note to Editors:
WMS Haywards Ltd has been the leading property services company operating in the public sector. The company started trading in April 2001 with the award by Westminster City Council of six housing management contracts covering 7,500 properties and including the delivery of two major urban regeneration projects of a combined total value of £180 million.
WMS Haywards has also been awarded a long-term estate management contract by the London Borough of Lewisham involving the management of 1,400 residential units. Lewisham intends to broaden its scope to include the provision of all services, as with the Westminster contracts. The division has established an urban regeneration team in conjunction with the building consultancy services division.
Kennedy Haywards Ltd is the building consultancy division offering a full range of professional services associated with refurbishment, construction and urban regeneration. The Erinaceous Group acquired it in 1999. The division carries out a full range of architectural, surveying and engineering services, including project management, planning, design, environmental appraisals, construction monitoring, planned maintenance, life cycle costing, stock condition surveys and valuation.
The customer base includes major residential landlords such as Dorrington Investment plc and Cadogan Estates, public sector clients such as Westminster City Council, the London Boroughs of Croydon, Ealing, Haringey and Sutton and commercial clients such as EMAP and TXU Energi.
Haywards Fineman Lever Ltd is the private sector estate management division of the group. This company provides management services to blocks of flats mainly in the Greater London area and currently has over 13,000 residential units under management.
Haywards Fineman Lever is a corporate member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and is the only major Central London property management company, which is directly regulated by the RICS.
