Sixty Willmott Dixon repairs and maintenance engineers working in properties owned by Birmingham City Council have learnt new life-long skills that will enhance the service they provide.

The company has invested over £500,000 in providing the engineers with a multi-skilled NVQ qualification in Building Maintenance that enables them to carry out a wider number of repair tasks in council-owned homes, reducing the need for extra visits as well as time spent in each property.

While most of the engineers hold a qualification in one particular trade, possessing the additional NVQ means they have skills to complete several trade tasks, in areas such as carpentry, plastering and plumbing, which they were not previously trained to do.

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It brings the numbers of qualified multi-skilled Willmott Dixon engineers working in the north of Birmingham to 151. They are part of the company’s response team working with Birmingham City Council to repair and maintain 60,000 properties across the city.

Willmott Dixon Partnerships has two contracts for the north and south of the city, covering areas such as Edgbaston, Hall Green, Northfield, Selly Oak, Ladywood, Erdington, Perry Bar and Sutton Coldfield. The training is part of a process that aims to reduce the cost of this service by £47m over the five year terms of the two contracts.

Pauline Chatt, Willmott Dixon's branch manager in the north of Birmingham, said: "This investment in skills means that when our team visit homes to complete a repair, they can achieve more in one visit, thereby reducing the inconvenience to our customers of return visits."

Mick Williamson, Managing Director of Willmott Dixon Partnerships, added: "Our company is committed to making sure our engineers have a multi-skilled qualification, so that those qualified in a single discipline, such as plastering or carpentry, develop their skills in other areas.

"As well as reducing the time we need to spend in homes, the extra qualification will ensure our people can also develop as individuals."

(CD/GK)