Council awards Gentoo Tolent £2.1m contract to improve 500 York homes

City of York Council has awarded a £2.1m framework scheme to North East-based contractor Gentoo Tolent.

Gentoo Tolent is now tasked with improving around 500 homes in the next two years.

The works will see whole house improvements to the local authority’s housing stock which includes new bathrooms, kitchens, electrical work and general property repairs.

Cllr David Carr, City of York Council’s executive member for housing, said: “Gentoo’s work for us over the past four years has convinced us that they can support us to continue delivering quality refurbishment to our tenants.

Not only that but their work to repair and refurbish flood-damaged council homes has been invaluable.“

The contract follows an additional four year framework with the council, where Gentoo Tolent delivered similar home improvements to over 350 homes across the city, including two sheltered schemes, worth around £2.8m.

Paul Webster, managing director of Gentoo Tolent, commented: “This is a very important win for us; securing more work for the next two years and further developing our reputation as a quality contractor in the York region.

“We’re delighted to be continuing our relationship with City of York Council and after working very closely together for the past four years, we understand the client and their customers very well and we look forward to delivering more high quality improvements.”

As part of the contract, Gentoo Tolent has created three full time apprentice positions and four employment opportunities.

During the previous four year framework, the contractor partnered with the Springboard Project which is aimed at supporting care leavers in York and North Yorkshire aged 16-25 into employment, education and training.

David Dixon, head of customer services at Gentoo Tolent, added: “Working with organisations like the Springboard project is a valuable way we can help young people to gain work experience and help set them up for future employment.

“We try and work with local organisations and social enterprises on all our contracts, tapping into their experience and local knowledge to help us make the biggest impact possible, as well as delivering high quality homes.”