Echelon was appointed to reprocure an outsourced contract to deliver repairs and maintenance services on behalf of Riverside for its properties in southern and central England.

The key driver was to create a service that looked and felt like it was part of Riverside rather than a separate entity, emulating the ethos and culture of its in-house contractor delivering repairs and maintenance services in the north of England. Following a comprehensive review of Riverside’s repairs and maintenance services, a wholly owned subsidiary (WOS) model, including personnel from a contractor and Riverside, was decided upon and Riverside Direct was created.

Mears emerged from a competitive dialogue process as the preferred partner and was appointed to manage the delivery of services in central and southern England, under the Riverside Direct brand. Echelon held a culture and values workshop with employees from both organisations to create a common ethos and a set of shared values for the new organisation which is designed to look and feel very much like an in-house contractor. Riverside Direct provides a wide range of services, including reactive repairs and maintenance, planned works, repairs and maintenance under the Property MOT programme, gas servicing and installation and 24-hour out of hours service.