New fleet of housing repair vans hits Wrexham’s roads

A new fleet of housing repair vans have hit the roads across Wrexham as the council upgrade their fleet.

Consisting of 78 new panel vans and six flatbed pickups for the council’s housing repairs team, the new fleet will help operatives carry out repairs for more than 11,200 council houses across the county borough.

Along with seven pickups for the estate care taking team, the vehicles have replaced a mix of Ford Transits, Fiat Forino and Vauxhall Corsa, some of which had served the council for over 11 years.

Wrexham.com queried if the vehicles had been purchased outright or leased, and were told they were on lease deals. No costs were given ‘due to commercial sensitivity’.

Wrexham Council say that due to the age of some vehicles in the old fleet, breakdowns were frequent and they often had to rely on externally hired vehicles to get things done.

However with a new housing and economy senior management team in place, approval was gained to upgrade the fleet and bring all of the council’s housing repair and caretaker vehicles up to a more reliable, better-presented professional standard.

The new MAN vans are the first major contract in the light commercial sector for our new local supplier AN Richards, of Froncysyllte and the MAN vehicles are new to the market, the company having only started manufacture of the light commercial vehicles back in September 2017

Johanna Cooke, AN Richards company secretary said: “As a family run local business, AN Richards are extremely proud to be supplying these vehicles to Wrexham County Borough Council’s housing repairs service.

“The contract is not only important to us, but also for MAN as the manufacturer and we are looking forward to ensuring the working relationship is a success.”

Cllr David Griffiths, lead member for housing, added that it was important the council have a “serviceable and reliable fleet” across all estates in Wrexham.

“Our housing repairs team provide a round-the-clock service 365 days a year for all council tenants – whether that’s at council houses or in sheltered housing,” he continued.

“We want tenants to know and feel that they’re getting a good professional service from us. Part of that is in presentation, and these new vans certainly tick that box.

“I’d like to thank AN Richards for their work in supplying us with the new fleet, and I’m especially pleased that we’ve been able to source the new vehicles through a local company.”