Be Modern selected to heat up the North East
Be Modern, one of the UK’s largest fireplace manufacturers, has been selected by people and property business, Gentoo, to provide fireplaces for a substantial social housing project in the North East.
Be Modern, based in South Shields, has been operating for more than 45 years and holds a wealth of experience in the social housing field working with social landlords across the country. The company, which also owns Elgin & Hall, has recently expanded by acquiring Broseley Fires, based in Shrewsbury.
The contract, which was awarded last month under fierce competition, will see Be Modern’s Electric fire suites fitted to over 30,000 homes as part of a massive refurbishment project spearheaded by Gentoo.
Richard Appleby, Managing Director of Be Modern, commented: “This significant Gentoo contract win is very positive news for the company and demonstrates our ability to develop new technically advanced and environmentally friendly products to a client brief within a tight timescale whilst maintaining our usual high quality standards. In addition, it also highlights Be Modern as a key player in terms of delivering the highest quality of product, in such large volumes, all within contract timescales.”
Richard went on to talk about the positive external spin-off effects such a project will have “In extremely tough economic times, this is welcome news for the North East, we can feel safe in the knowledge that we have secured jobs within our business, which will bring benefits to our local economy.”
Ian Porter, Managing Director of Gentoo, commented on the rationale behind the selection of Be Modern as the preferred supplier of fireplaces for the project: “When looking at our options for partners in housing projects such as the one in the North East, cost is arguably one of the predominant factors in influencing our decision. In addition however, as an organisation our vision is to have a positive effect on the way our people and communities live, develop and improve, and we therefore look for similar ethics from potential partners. Thus, when we met with Be Modern we knew that its approach and products were the right fit for this project.
“Finally, it was from the beginning of the tender process that we started to sense the important fact that Be Modern understood our resident’s requirements. This came as a result of them working alongside us and involving us in the development of a whole new range of electric fires, that both met our high standards, specifications and ultimately our brief, a vital attribute for any successful partnership in business.”
