PARTNERSHIP WORKING

 

 

Places for People

 

Cotman Housing Association formally entered the Places for People Group at the beginning of April 2009, in a move which aims to deliver excellent customer services and large scale developments across East Anglia.

With assets in excess of £2.3 billion, Places for People is one of the largest property management and development companies in the UK, committed to creating sustainable communities. The Group’s focus is on creating places where people choose to live – whether that means providing new communities or transforming existing communities into vibrant, popular areas to live and prosper.

Following extensive consultations with customers, staff and shareholders, Cotman has now become part of the Places for People Group, with a combined portfolio of over 2,100 properties across East Anglia, principally in Norfolk and North Suffolk. These properties will be managed by Cotman, which has over 30 years’ experience in housing management in the area. Cotman will keep its existing identity, Board, and governance structures, but operate as a subsidiary of Places for People.

The move plays to the strengths of both organisations, combining the large scale regeneration and development expertise of Places for People with Cotman’s strong experience and reputation in housing management and high-quality customer services.

Cotman Housing is greatly looking forward to working alongside Places for People, and by taking advantage of the Group’s initiatives and resources, we will be able to provide a more extensive service to our residents, and local Places for People customers will benefit from the strong performance reputation that we have in the local area.

 

 

Contact details:

 

Places for People

4 The Pavillions

Port Way

Preston

PR2 2YB

 

Tel: 01772 897200

Fax: 01772 202436

 

www.placesforpeople.co.uk

 

 

New Anglia Partnership

Cotman Housing Association is a partner in the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) which is developing a new dynamic approach to grow the Norfolk and Suffolk economy, putting businesses in the driving seat to create jobs for the future.

The two counties have similar strengths and challenges. With 60,000 enterprises in Suffolk and Norfolk and a population of 1.5 million, New Anglia represents a significant economic area. Tourism and Energy are just two examples of major sectors which employ significant numbers of people, bring wealth to the local economy and have the potential to grow.

However, Suffolk and Norfolk have below national average skills, poor infrastructure and deprivation in urban, rural and coastal areas.

In 2010, the coalition government decided to abolish the regional development agencies - the government organisations tasked with driving the economy of the country's regions. Businesses and local authorities were invited to put forward proposals to government, for the formation of Local Enterprise Partnerships, to help drive local economies. The LEPs are not a replacement for Regional Development Agencies. They are independent of government, business-led, and autonomous.

One of 38 Local Enterprise Partnerships, New Anglia has been established as a catalyst to create jobs and remove the barriers to growth, and was approved by the government in December 2010.

The Chairman of New Anglia is Andy Wood, the Chief Executive of Adnams plc. He leads a talented and dynamic board of 7 local business leaders, 6 local authority leaders and a senior representative from the HE/FE sector. The Board's focus is:

growing important business sectors
providing information and support for small and medium sized enterprises
improving infrastructure to enable businesses to thrive
Achievements to date include securing:

an enterprise zone for Suffolk and Norfolk
green pathfinder status. New Anglia will be the national lead and exemplar for developing the green economy
£185k in start-up funding from government to establish the organisation
The day to day running of New Anglia is undertaken by a small transition team led by Chris Starkie, the former Chief Executive of Shaping Norfolk's Future, Norfolk's economic development partnership.