Prime Minister Theresa May’s recent pledge to make sure residents are proud to call social housing their home has been backed by the General Manager of a Birmingham-based PVC-U window and door manufacturer and installer.
Mrs May told a National Housing Federation summit in London that she wanted “to see social housing that is so good people are proud to call it their home.”
And with Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn stating earlier this year that “a decent home is a right owed to all…and the only way to deliver on that right for everyone, regardless of income, is through social housing,” Howard Trotter of Shelforce is delighted that social housing is in the spotlight.
Shelforce provides high-quality products to local authority building projects around the country, including Birmingham City Council. Howard said: “Social housing should never be seen as something that simply needs to be ‘good enough’ which is why we ensure that we only supply the highest quality products to allow our citizens to enjoy a comfortable and safe home.”
One of the current projects Shelforce has been working on is Adelaide Tower (pictured above) in Birmingham. Managed by Birmingham City Council, the retirement housing high-rise is currently being transformed, and Shelforce installed 221 windows for the project, which is being delivered by lead contractor Wates Living Space.
Howard said: “The windows we have installed will help make Adelaide Tower look fantastic. When finished the building will look completely modernised and it fits with the drive to, essentially, construct council buildings that don’t look like council buildings. It will definitely be impossible to tell the difference between Adelaide Tower and full-price housing, and I’m sure residents will be proud to live there.”
For Howard and Shelforce, such social values and sense of community line up with the company’s own. While making it their mission to help provide quality housing for the wider community, they also lead the way when it comes to ensuring equal employment opportunities by employing and training people with a range of disabilities. They are also set to open a dedicated training facility at their factory in Erdington to provide regular work experience placements for students from nearby schools.
It continues Shelforce’s proud legacy of supporting Birmingham’s population and Howard added: “Investing in the future is something we have always taken seriously at Shelforce and we want to help young adults of all abilities take their first steps into the workplace.
“We are also changing the perception of disabled workers in the workplace and we have benefitted massively from their inbuilt resilience, loyalty, dedication and hard work. Our team are hugely experienced at what they do and produce top quality products, which is the reason why we are asked to install on projects such as Adelaide Tower.”
