Positive merchant relationships helped retain a prisons refurbishment specification threatened by value engineering.
The overall project at Ministry of Justice Sudbury in Derbyshire involved two housing blocks and a community centre, with an initial phase delivered in March 2022, working with main contractor ESS Modular and mechanical contractors TNA Electrical, supplied through merchant Tec Supplies.
However, the subsequent phases were threatened following a request to Tec Supplies to value engineer the project to reduce costs.
Non-Residential Specification Manager Natalie Buckingham said: “Thankfully the relationship I have with the merchant meant they came back to me to work together to fight off the threat.
“Had that relationship not been in place, it’s likely they would have looked at an alternative supplier when asked to provide a value-engineered specification."
The project involved supplying Contour back outlet basins and Profile 21 back to wall WCs, with a total of 120 units each, plus Contour products for accessible areas.
The overall project value was over £99,000 and a second scheme for a similar value was delivered at MOJ Springhill in Buckinghamshire with the same partners at the same time.