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West Midlands boost for Willmott Dixon

8 Nov 13 Willmott Dixon’s decision to target the housing sector in the Midlands has been rewarded by a slew of new orders.

Evesham's Yates Court complex will double in size
Evesham's Yates Court complex will double in size

The company has been appointed by Rooftop Housing Group, Worcester Community Housing and Housing 21 to deliver a total of 160 new homes in Evesham, Worcester and Rugby for a variety of tenure needs.

At Evesham, Willmott Dixon will build a £6m 48-apartment extension for Rooftop Housing Group to the Yates Court extra care complex in the High Street.

In Worcester, Worcester Community Housing has awarded the company a £7m contract on Gresham Road to create a mixed-use development of 27 houses and six commercial units that incorporate a further 24 apartments, together with the re-provision of the local church.

In Rugby, Willmott Dixon is working with Housing 21 on a facility that will provide 61 apartments for people needing specialist extra care accommodation.  It’s the latest in a series of development the company is building in Warwickshire for Housing 21.

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The housing work comes a few weeks after Willmott Dixon announced its Coleshill-based housing company had created 42 new jobs in the past six months following a surge in housing orders that included a £6.6m contract for The Wrekin Housing Trust for extra care apartments in Wombourne, plus work to create 37 new homes of all tenure mixes for Walsall Housing Group on Fisher Road.

Willmott Dixon has long had a construction presence in the Midlands but only this year decided to expand its house-building activities from the southeast to the Midlands. It appointed Simon Leadbeater as its managing director for housing building in the region. He said: “Housing is a good indicator of economic growth and these latest schemes bode well for prospects in the West Midlands.  Our growing workload in housing will also see us create further job opportunities as more projects start on site over the coming months.”

Willmott Dixon also made a big statement of its intent to boost training and jobs in the West Midlands by investing £1m to create the 4Life Academy at Electric Avenue in Perry Barr. The academy (pictured below) has already provided skills training to over 1,000 people since opening in February, with a yearly target to provide skills courses for 2,000 people, both within the company and also the wider community in Birmingham.

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