Housing associations, Abri and Curo Group, have announced that they are exploring options to form a new partnership.
If it progresses, the merged partnership would own and manage more than 73,000 homes and community assets and support 142,000 customers across the south and south west of England.
Gary Orr, group chief executive of Abri, said: “We believe Abri and Curo are an excellent fit for one another. As well as operating in the same geographical area, both groups share the same core purpose, vision and values. Separately, we are two high-performing organisations, but together we believe we can be even greater. Our combined strength and resilience will allow us to invest more into our customers’ homes, offer greater services and build more much-needed affordable homes.”
David McQuade, interim chief executive of Curo, commented: “Curo and Abri have many things in common and our boards believe that together we will have more capacity to improve homes and services. Combining resources and capabilities is in the long-term interests of our customers and communities. While the partnership discussions progress, our focus will be on maintaining the delivery of high-quality services. Our customers’ views are extremely important to us, and we will give them every opportunity to provide feedback on the proposals and their priorities for the future.”
A final decision is expected later in the year, following a formal consultation with customers and the agreement of both boards to the final business case.
