A property maintenance company has invested in 14 new machines so far this year in order to boost its grounds maintenance work.
Platform Property Care – a subsidiary of Platform Housing Group, one of the UK’s largest social landlords – has purchased a range of machines from Kubota in order to meet the needs of the different sites it services.
Simon Harris, Service Manager at Platform Housing Group said : “We operate a number of different types of contracts in Worcestershire, Herefordshire and the West Midlands; there are more than 14,500 sites in this region alone requiring maintenance of gardens and grounds around properties as well as parks and open spaces.”
Platform Housing Group’s grounds maintenance teams work in a 10-12 day cycle around the sites, cutting between 3,500 to 4,000 sq m of grass a day, resulting in up to 1million sq m of grass in every cycle. Each operator rotates between mowing, brush cutting and hedge trimming.
Simon continued : “Our equipment needs to be reliable, productive and straightforward to use. Durability and adaptability are key and machines need to be compact and lightweight to go on a trailer leaving room for clippings or other tools in the truck.”
At the end of last year, Platform Property Care undertook a procurement exercise to update the mowing fleet, trialling a number of brands.
Simon said : “We were looking for best value from the machines and dealer Ron Smith of Worcester – our supplier since March of this year – was able to suggest machines to suit each job from the Kubota range.”
A five year contract has been negotiated to include servicing; repairs are carried out within 48 hours or replacement machines provided.
Simon concluded : “We’ve been using Kubota mowers since 2007 and found them to be really adaptable, from the first cuts in April until the end of the season. Due to our workload, they have to be able to work in all conditions and reliability is key. We feel really fortunate that we have had very few issues over the years.”
Platform Housing Group’s operating area is from Herefordshire in the West to the Lincolnshire coast in the East, and from the Derbyshire Dales in the North to the Cotswolds in the South.
Platform Housing Group – which owns 46,000 homes in total – completed 1448 homes in 2019/20 (1,598 in 2018/19) at an investment of £258m (£228m in 2018/19). The Group also built more social rented homes – at a figure of 981 – during the past 2 years in England than any other provider, 523 in 2019/20, almost 33% of the total homes built. Platform Housing Group’s operating area is from Herefordshire in the West to the Lincolnshire coast in the East, and from the Derbyshire Dales in the North to the Cotswolds in the South.
