South Lakeland District Council (SLDC) has outsourced its full range of property services to Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) in a £2.6m contract.
Following a competitive tendering process, LSH secured the five year contract, which has a five year extension option, and will see the national property consultancy delivering services across the whole of South Lakeland.
As part of the brief, LSH will now devise and deliver an estate management strategy which will not only make estate efficiencies for the Council, but also develop additional revenue streams and support its regeneration and growth agendas.
LSH is to open a new office in Staveley, Kendal to accommodate eight staff who will be responsible for coordinating the work. This will include asset management and maintenance of numerous sites including Kendal town hall, two leisure centres, two industrial estates, the Mintworks serviced offices, depots, car parks and manage access rights onto the lake at Windermere. As part of the contract LSH will also take responsibility for maintaining the council’s estate properties, and for compliance with health and safety requirements.
Richard Platt, head of LSH’s public sector real estate advisory service in the North, which will manage the project, said: “South Lakeland District Council, like us, recognises that there is a huge amount of potential for economic growth in this area, and is keen to see its property portfolio work as hard as possible to support this.
“Due to the size of LSH and the wide variety of expertise we have available on hand, we are perfectly positioned to help the Council achieve its ambitions, and generate more jobs, affordable housing, and more opportunities for the growing number of businesses in the region.”
Sion Thomas, Corporate Asset Manager for SLDC, said “This is a great opportunity for South Lakeland District Council to work with an experienced property services provider who has the strategic and operational capability and drive to deliver the strategic priorities set out in the Council Plan.
The Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership estimates that over the next 10 years, the county will attract over £25bn of inward investment in sectors such as advance manufacturing, nuclear and biopharmaceuticals.
