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Like G4S, Serco, Capita and other well-known outsourcing corporations, Mears Group has grown from the ongoing privatisation of public services. We deliver a range of property services, including delivering reactive repairs, planned and cyclical maintenance services to over 100 local authorities and housing . If you are granted refugee status, humanitarian protection or discretionary leave to remain, you can apply for help and financial support through the UK benefits system provided you meet the usual conditions of entitlement. The LAASLO team will be able to offer advice and signposting. Mears now provides care for 15,000 people a year. I could not afford the move as I already paid over 7000 of my student loan to Mears as rent. Its businesses bring in around 900 million a year. UK Benefits System This is the first time Mears has worked as a refugee landlord. To keep growing, Mears is expanding into new business lines, such as building its own housing developments and running its own regeneration schemes. I went to see Terry, an asylum seeker from the Middle East, at his hotel in West Yorkshire. We have been renting a considerable number of properties to Asylum seekers ever since the home office contracts began. . See All Operating Companies. They are responsible for your accommodation. The AIRE contract has been a disaster. Complaints in Parliament and in the media. But it is far from certain the company can be trusted to provide decent homes for refugees. There is no suggestion that Mears uses the nationwide planning data it manages to gain an unfair advantage in its own developments. Unite the Union accused Mears of penny pinching stupidity, saying it should just pay for better dust masks that can cover beards. Notably, Orchard & Shipman were sub-contracted by Serco to run much of their asylum housing contract in Scotland between 2012 and 2016. The Mears Group, which has the Home Office contract to house asylum seekers in Glasgow has been heavily criticised for its decision to move around 400 asylum seekers in Glasgow claiming it was necessary because of problems securing lets during the lockdown, which campaigners say had put the physical and mental health of asylum seekers at risk. We are all worried here in the house, it is dangerous for us to have no alarms., Mears is not coping at all, another contact told me. For example, a website may provide you with local weather reports or traffic news by storing data about your current location. Mears has been awarded contracts for Scotland, Northern Ireland and the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber. One notable point: from September 2012 until 2016, Sercos Scottish asylum housing was largely sub-contracted to another scandal-hit company, Orchard & Shipman. To start with, Mears has two affordable housing subsidiaries called Omega Housing and Plexus UK (First Project). On 20 October Alex Cunningham, MP for Stockton North, raised issues around the failing Mears contract in the North East in the House of Commons, accusing the government of failing to ensure their new contract works for the people its there to serve. David, the teenage son of the family who met me at the house, said, We have an electric shower, so we go and have a shower when we need to warm up. David was concerned about his sister: She has something like asthma, and the cold in the house means she has had colds and infections and time off school and had to go to hospital. In November, lone mother Ruths boiler failed for the first time. Mears presents itself as a step up from notorious outsourcing rivals like Serco and G4S. In circumstances such as these, their food is provided and they lose their 5.30 daily, which means they often cannot top up their phones to contact lawyers and family, or buy fresh . I tried to contact them but there was no reply for hours. Corporate Watch Western Avenue Last week Cllr Paul Wood, Sheffield City Council cabinet member for neighbourhoods and community safety, talked to me about the widespread problems with the management of the asylum housing contracts by new contractor the Mears Group. Over 40% of Mears care workers left the company last year. Newcastle upon Tyne [1] In June 2017 Mears made headlines when it tried to ban workers from having beards. The company employs 12,000 people. These items allow the website to remember choices you make (such as your user name, language, or the region you are in) and provide enhanced, more personal features. Call Freephone: 0800 170 7008 or email: housingadvicecentre@newcastle.gov.uk His replacement, Kieran Murphy, is an investment banker rather than a builder. Mears also offers a range of management services to other landlords, such as income management (i.e., rent collection), and emergency accommodation. This is the living room. David showed me damaged furniture and a decaying wall cupboard, then a storage area with stained and damaged wall and dirty stair carpets. There are few specifics yet about how Mears will run the new contracts and so whether theres likely to be any change from the miserable record of G4S and Serco. I am a Mears tenant in Newham, London. In a major win for the Trump administration, the Supreme Court issued an order late Wednesday ending all injunctions that had blocked the White House's ban on asylum for anyone trying to enter the . The Guardian understands that the private housing provider Mears, which is subcontracted by the Home Office, has moved more than 300 people from mainly self-contained apartments into hotels over . Mitie Property Management has over 1,000 staff and contracts with more than 30 landlords, bringing in annual revenues of 138 million. His career has been advising businesses on financial deals such as raising money or buying other companies. I have been in five different hotels. About Us. Borrowing too much from banks and other lenders is a major reason why construction and maintenance companies go bust, Carillion most recently. Mears do not want to take responsibility for the lack of repairs (in my case it is ceilings falling in, kitchen floor caved in, windows nailed shut, bath rotting) and they offered me another of their overpriced properties only when I started suing them. Meanwhile, Mears top brass receive handsome rewards. Press Enquiries. Is there a company you think we should be looking into? The UK government has a duty to provide asylum for those seeking international protection in the UK. NE1 8XS For all of these, the solution was, of course, Mears, evidenced by .. YourMK. Its critical that ministers recognise this crisis and act to ensure some of the most vulnerable people in our society are protected. In early November, the Independent reported on Mears cases in Halifax, Leeds and Sheffield where Asylum seekers (were) left in houses with no heating in rat-infested homes. But we have no way of knowing the true scale of harm or dangerous situations resulting from the new contracts. Cllr Wood said Sheffield, too, was prioritising inspections of asylum houses and concentrating resources there. For more details visit, To receive updates on homelessness prevention and financial inclusion related services, provision and changes linked to the Coronavirus / COVID-19 pandemic, please, subscribe to the Active Inclusion Newcastle information update by emailing. There are already hints to what could happen in Mears accounts. This storage type usually doesnt collect information that identifies a visitor. The storage may be used for marketing, analytics, and personalization of the site, such as storing your preferences. There are Category 1 hazards throughout my home. So, what next for Mears? Advertising networks usually place them with the website operators permission. This storage is often necessary for the basic functionality of the website. John Taylor, Chief Operating Officer of Mears said: Mears provides housing and care to many thousands of people all across the UK, including some who are vulnerable. The Home Office operate a number of regional contracts to facilitate this. The crisis in the Mears contract in South Yorkshire and the North East has meant that there is very little housing for asylum seekers to go to from Urban House, and so many are being accommodated in hotels across West Yorkshire and Humberside. Failings in one branch saw people left without medicine and meals. In July 2015, council leader Jim McCabe was reported by opposition councillors to the Public Standards Commissioner. We have a dedicated team of Local Authority Asylum Seeker Liaison Officers (LAASLOs) who can support you during the asylum process. Mears is an outsourcing company working in two sectors: housing management, and home care. It has been particularly involved in Mears governance in the last year as it successfully led a move to oust long-term chairman Bob Holt (see the people section). Over the past four months, the combination of these delays and Mears contract performance its failures in terms of the quality, cleanliness and general management of homes have failed tenants. They have no idea where some people are., Terry showed me a text from Migrant Help saying that he was to be evicted. North of England Refugee Service (NERS) All of which could be very profitable for Mears and other private sector partners. Telephone: 0808 801 0503 Main picture: a Mears sponsored networking event with senior council and housing association managers. The roles of national and local governmentSupport for Asylum SeekersSupport after a decision on your asylum claimSupport for Refugees Protests at Urban House asylum hostel in Wakefield. 112-114 Pilgrim Street. To describe its new business approach overall, Mears likes to use a current regeneration buzzword Placemaking. Mears just missed a target for covering its debts in 2018.i But the company said that was mainly due to cash reserves being lower than planned due to being paid for certain activities slightly later than expected. A massive 42% of staff left the company in 2017. Telephone: 0808 801 0503. . Nowadays, Murphy sits on the boards of large public sector organisations as well as private companies. Migrant Help is a national service, funded by UKVI, providing free, independent advice and guidance to asylum seekers to help make claims for support and give general advice about the asylum process. If you have a question, or a problem, we want to hear from you. GitHub export from English Wikipedia. Houston, Texas 77008. 11:43, 25 JAN 2023. Operating income. I clean my own room here, nobody cleans our rooms in some of the hotels. If that reputation takes a hit, and local authorities and housing associations are more reluctant to use the company, Mears finances would look a lot less secure. Executive Offices. Mears strategy involves networking across the blurring boundaries of high finance and charitable housing provision. These items allow the website to remember choices you make (such as your user name, language, or the region you are in) and provide enhanced, more personal features. St Philips Close Both are wholly owned by Mears and are registered with the governments Social Housing Regulator as social housing providers. We look forward to hearing from you.Find contact details for care, repairs or management queries on our list of local branches. You can report issues to us here, Address:Innova HouseInnova ParkKinetic CrescentEnfieldLondonEN3 7XH. Mears operates transparent accounting in all of our public contracts.. You have rejected additional cookies. As of 2017, the last year for which full financial results are available, Mears had not increased its levels of borrowing, even with its move into housing development rather than simply maintenance. So far, Mears has overall management responsibility for some 10,000 properties. Mears claim to provide rapid response repairs but all they do is avoid responsibility and sparing on repair costs. In January 2019 Mears won its biggest deal yet 1.15 billion worth of asylum housing contracts with the Home Office. Newcastle upon Tyne Just 22 million of those were tangible assets. UKVI are responsible for making a decision on your asylum claim and providing you with accommodation and financial support while you are waiting. It will take only 2 minutes to fill in. But thanks to amendments to regulations made under the Blair government, companies have been able to use this to artificially inflate their overall worth, with Carillion again the most notorious example (click here for an in depth look at this by the Financial Times). At. You can change your cookie settings at any time. I take them from the cleaners trolley and give to the women. In one hotel we all refused to eat the out-of-date sandwiches they gave us they were very smelly as we opened the packs. . One important trend in the UK housing world is the convergence of private and social sectors. Mears housing business falls under three headings: maintenance, management, and development. Mears will establish operational teams in each of the areas for which we are responsible so that we are in a position to provide the best possible performance, within the terms of the contract. But these all depend on increased local authority funding, which is hard to predict with any confidence. The company employs 12,000 people. My home is barely habitable, Mears do not seem to be in any hurry & keep wasting time. I wish you good luck and the very best in your fight for a decent place to live Mears Group, Inc. is a private company. Back News; Subscribe. Hotels have become asylum housing. It is important that you seek specialist support to help you consider your options. Miles was paid 443,000 in 2017. Click here to contact us if you have any further information about the YourMK partnership or Mears activities in Milton Keynes. . In October a letter to then Home Office minister Victoria Atkins, signed by more than 100charities, warned that the new repairs reporting and advice system was causing needless suffering among those it is meant to protect, and called on the government to take urgent action to address the situation. It seems to be all about their bottom line, their profits. This is under the control of the Home Office and the UK Visas and Immigration department who decide who can legally reside in the UK. The Mears home care business struggles to break even and to keep care workers, unsurprising given the infamously low rates of pay in the sector. At the time of writing, Mears is still working in Brighton. A related business line is property acquisition funding. They are listed as non profit but are companies limited by guarantee rather than charities. He told the Independent, I had hoped for a huge improvement in services for refugees, but its clear the system is failing due to lack of capacity. Ann Arbor, Michigan. Find out about call charges. They said they had not tracked where I was., As I left him Terry said, I think I am going to volunteer with a food bank, maybe I can persuade them to bring food for the children here.. If you have no other means of support you will be provided with accommodation on a no choice basis by one of UKVIs contracted accommodation providers; in Newcastle the housing provider is Mears. (limited service at other times) This scenario has been playing out across the UK since September 2019, when three companies - Serco, Clearsprings and the Mears Group - took over the Home Office contract for the provision of asylum housing for asylum seekers awaiting decisions (currently 48,000). We must not give up fighting back and scrutinizing this company. This storage is often necessary for the basic functionality of the website. . We are honoured to be a recognised City of Sanctuary; part of a network of towns and cities throughout the country that are proud to be places of safety, and which include people seeking sanctuary fully in the lives of their communities. Allegations involving overcharging scams and corruption hang over deals from Brighton and Scotland. Get in touch! For more information about Newcastle:City of Sanctuary and the partners involved please visit City of Sanctuary. For example, in recent developments in Luton and Basingstoke. Contact top employees from Mears Group, Inc. B. Britta Pohlman - Storm Water Coordinator Together they are worth 1.15 billion over ten years. The company says it is still trying to grow its home care business but only with contracts that can provide clear and sustainable margins (in other words turn a profit). If you have a business or service related enquiry, you can email us, call us on 01304 203977. Mears has been awarded contracts for Scotland, Northern Ireland and the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber. These contracts involve providing housing for thousands of asylum seekers who have been dispersed to those areas by the Home Office while they apply for refugee status. The trade union Unite announced victory in its strike over a pay dispute with Mears in Manchester in February 2018. Most of Mears contracts are with cash-strapped local authorities. In some cases, for example in Manchester or North Lanarkshire, Mears works through joint venture companies set up together with local authorities. More broadly, it involved a spreading ideology of privatisation: repeating the mantra that private companies were more efficient at running services. Miami, FL Mears shared are listed on the London Stock Exchange. We use some essential cookies to make this website work. Home Office statistics show that there were 34,354 new asylum claimants in the UK (main applicants only) in the year ending September 2019, 22 percent more than the previous year and the highest level for three years. What next for the Mears asylum contract in South Yorkshire? Do you have information about Mears youd like to share with us? Use the branch locator to find a contact number for your local branch. We have a formal complaints process which aims to make sure all formal complaints are recorded, investigated and responded to fairly and in a timely manner. We look forward to hearing from you soon. In the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber this contract is held by Mears. For welfare rights and money advice please visitWelfare Rights. In a statement, Mears Group said due to a significant rise in the numbers of people seeking asylum, hotels are being used to accommodate people until more homes can be prioritised. According to official sources, between 600 and 900 asylum seekers are being accommodated in hotels at any one time in West Yorkshire. From its beginnings in pipeline engineering, it has grown to be a leader in corrosion engineering, pipeline integrity management, pipeline rehabilitation and horizontal directional drilling. They may also be used to limit the number of times you see an advertisement and measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. Serco Group Pty Limited Level 24 60 Margaret Street Sydney NSW 2000 Australia. Newcastle upon Tyne Mears likes to boast about this scheme. Further complaint has been sent., Asylum housing tenants and others have told me of Barnsley HMOs which Mears had not cleaned for months and where basic hygiene repairs had simply not been done. Mears home care division provides care to 15,000 older and disabled people. Mears/Terraquests biggest coup is running a big piece of the whole UK planning system: 90% of all planning applications in England and Wales (according to a Mears presentation) go through one internet system called the National Planning Portal. Muslim women with the headscarf were really terrified and very afraid for their children.. A private "social housing" business, Mears Group, is about to become one of the UK's biggest refugee landlords, winning three ten year asylum accommodation contracts from the Home Office worth a total 1.15 billion. But, less than two years into the scheme, the wheels started to fall off. Mears buys up properties, does them up and sells them on to a long-term funding partner, perhaps after a few months. More than 20 people have tested positive at . We have gone through the teething problems of the Angel Group . In other Mears contract areas, similar examples were emerging. 15,719 (2016) Website. Without this, the overall worth of the company according to its accounts would drop from 210 million to just 15 million. Mears also sees the overlap between its housing and care businesses as a good selling point looking to capitalise on an ageing population. Huntersville, NC Picture: Mears Scotland promotional photo, Willie Docherty is standing, on the left. Mears does have another smaller MoD contract since 2016 it has run the militarys substitute service family accommodation, to find private sector housing for military personnel. Tel: 0191 230 4777www.newcastlelawcentre.co.uk. At the end of 2017, Omega managed around 1,000 properties, and Plexus over 1,700. Goodwill amounts to over 40% of Mears total assets a bigger proportion than Interserve and Mitie, slightly less than Serco and Capita. More acquisitions followed most notably Care UKs home care division in 2015 and by 2015 Mears had become the second biggest home care provider in the UK. We're here to help and answer any questions you might have. They move us regularly. Performed by ANSI and NACECertified NDE Specialists.