17 suppliers have won spots on the latest Social Housing Emerging Disruptors (SHED) framework which supports local authorities and housing associations to compliantly procure non-traditional solutions from micro businesses and SMEs.
This fourth generation of the SHED framework, which is worth up to £100m over three years, offers a wide range of innovative services, from 3D concrete printing, thermal inspection drones and eco-friendly subsidence solutions, to renewable energy smart mobile towers, video repairs reporting for tenants, robotic under floor insulation and real time data to improve damp and mould.
Social housing procurement services provider, Procurement for Housing (PfH) has worked again with the Disruptive Innovators Network to discover the most innovative firms working in property technology today.
PfH set up the first SHED framework four years ago, in response to feedback from housing associations and councils about how difficult it was to procure emerging services from innovative start-ups.
Many fledgling firms with fresh ways to tackle old issues such as damp and mould, net zero and building safety couldn’t break into the market because of tender bureaucracy. They didn’t have the resources to commit to the lengthy public procurement application process.
Even when SMEs were able to bid, procurement managers didn’t have the specialist knowledge to specify niche services. Although the market should lead the way, companies couldn’t scale their solutions because landlords were unable to procure them compliantly.
PfH has addressed these issues by ensuring the SHED is flexible and light touch in terms of bidding paperwork. A portal then allows social landlords to do a quick desk-based selection process, identifying the supplier that best meets their needs, and PfH’s team provides pricing information and supports the contracting process.
Suppliers appointed to SHED4 include Harcourt Technologies, a 3D concrete printing firm; Vantage UAV which delivers drone-based property inspections; Geobear Residential, offering eco-friendly subsidence solutions; Autonomous IoT, providing renewable energy security and lighting towers; Confurr, a real-time video platform that helps tenants report repairs; robotic underfloor insulation firm Q-Bot and Switchee, which delivers real-time data through a thermostat, helping social landlords to proactively manage homes.
Neil Butters, head of procurement at PfH said: “We had a range of firms bidding for the SHED this year and the 17 winners offer a wide variety of services. That’s a sign of where the social housing sector is right now and the myriad of problems and competing priorities it faces. The market is responding to those challenges and our job with the SHED is to nurture both the SME supply chain and innovative procurement in the sector – both key goals of the new Procurement Act.
For more info about the SHED4 framework visit https://procurementforhousing.co.uk/shed-frameworks/
