Willmott Dixon's housing repairs and maintenance brand Partnerships has secured two contracts worth £91 million to deliver its service across the Midlands.

The company will also be investing in skills with a commitment to create 11 apprenticeships as part of the work.

The largest is a £64 million contract from Orbit Heart of England to deliver responsive repairs to homes across Stratford-upon-Avon, Rugby, Burton-on-Trent, Coventry Hinckley and Northampton over the next eight years.

The scope also includes refurbishing vacant properties and electrical testing, with Orbit Heart of England having an option to extend the contract for a further five years. A Willmott Dixon Partnerships team will co-locate with Orbit Heart at its office in Stratford-upon-Avon while also working from three additional regional offices in Burton, Rugby and Leicester.

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Willmott Dixon Partnerships has also won a five year contract worth £27 million from Midland Heart to deliver its service to 5,300 homes across the East and West Midlands. It will co-locate at Midland Heart's office in Coventry to provide the service, which has an option to be extended to ten years.

Both will see Partnerships' highly experienced management team bring new investment in systems, training and people development to enhance the existing service, with both workforces transferring across under TUPE.

Mick Williamson, managing director at Willmott Dixon Partnerships, said: "We're delighted to be working with Orbit Heart of England and Midland Heart. We will apply the same focus on quality, skills development and service levels that has enabled us to add value and bring enhanced productivity in our performance to maintain 60,000 properties for Birmingham City Council.

"This new work will also allow us to employ more apprentices, who will join over 80 we have in the business. Given our large presence in the Midlands, where we employ nearly 1,000 people, another important area is social investment; last year we invested over £1 million to create the 4Life Academy in Birmingham to train our staff and people from the wider community, with over 4,000 people using it in 2013. This, alongside our track record of supporting over 50 apprentices in the Midlands to get qualifications over the past four years, is just part of our investment in skills and community opportunity."

(CD)