Eric Wright Professional Services has built its client portfolio to 55 individually managed schools through its consultancy service offer in the last 12 months and has set out its ambition to grow by a further 20% in the next year.
The professional services division, which is headed up by Director Drew Hird, is also delivering a tailored consultancy and facilities management services for 28 schools, which sit within the Star Academies across Lancashire, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, the Midlands and London. Star Academies is the highest achieving secondary-age Multi Academy Trust in England.
The professional services arm of Eric Wright’s FM business advises the education sector on a wide range of consultancy services including estates management, planned preventative maintenance, statutory compliance, day-to-day reactive maintenance, helpdesk facilities, contract administration, project management, and design of projects up to £2m. Additionally, they advise clients on securing capital investment for their schools through various funding routes such as SCA Funding, emergency capital, CiF, SALIX, and SEEF.
Speaking about how the education portfolio has grown during Covid-19, Drew Hird commented: “Delivering the highest standard of consultancy and facilities management services to schools has never been more important than it is at this point in time and we continue to adapt our business to meet the changing needs of the sector. We have had to be very fluid in the way we deliver services to our schools and have provided individual, bespoke support on a case by case basis, dependent on each school’s specific activities and needs.”
“We are continuing to support our school clients as they take on the challenges of teaching our children as they start the new term”.
David Holland, Executive Director of Capital Programmes & Estates at Star Academies, said: “The Trust’s estate has grown rapidly over recent years. EWFM, through their Professional Services team, has supported us with this growth and in particular with the development of our wider estates’ strategy. There is a wealth of experience in managing educational assets within the team.”