Dec 18 2006
A new report produced for the West Midlands Centre for Constructing Excellence (WMCCE) highlights how there are major opportunities for building refurbishment in the West Midlands region.
The report, produced by BRE, examines the growing market for refurbishment in the region, which currently spends in excess of £4 billion per year on repair and maintenance. Whilst this includes major projects such as the major schools refurbishment programme in Birmingham, it largely consists of projects of less than £50,000 in value.
"The report shows how West Midlands firms could engage in more partnering to enable greater innovation. The region is one of the strongest in the UK for building technologies, employing over 260,000 people, but we can do more to spread a culture of knowledge sharing and innovation' commented Phil Wilson, Director of WMCCE. "We have a housing stock of 2.2 million dwellings and like the rest of the UK many of these are falling below the Decent Homes standard. The region needs to act to ensure we have high quality, sustainable homes and buildings fit for the 21st Century."
To help the West Midlands region address these challenges, WMCCE is now actively providing business improvement programmes to help implement best practice and innovation. This includes Best Practice Clubs, demonstration projects and research.
WMCCE is part-funded by Advantage West Midlands and the European Regional Development Fund and can offer subsidised, or in some cases, free-of-charge business improvement services to eligible companies. WMCCE is managed by the University of Wolverhampton on behalf of all West Midlands Higher and Further Education Institutions.