At ARK, we have extensive experience in supporting housing associations through complex procurement projects. Our comprehensive fleet procurement support helped Soha Housing successfully launch their new in-house repairs service, Soha Response, demonstrating our commitment to delivering innovative solutions for our clients.
About Soha Housing
Soha Housing is an award-winning, community-based housing association working in and around Oxfordshire. It is a mutualised organisation, meaning Members can get involved, influence decisions and shape the future of the association.
The Soha story began in 1997 when local council housing tenants in South Oxfordshire voted to transfer their homes to a new organisation. Over 5,000 homes were moved over to what was then called South Oxfordshire Housing Association. Afterwards, the association spent time improving the conditions of the properties they’d taken over, as well as developing more of their own properties.
In 2000, they changed their name to SOHA Housing, following the development of its first properties in Sonning Common, quickly followed by development of their first shared ownership homes in Benson, in 2001.
Soha currently has over 7,000 homes in and around South Oxfordshire and offer a variety of housing types for people at different stages of their lives – rented homes, shared ownership for first-time buyers and sheltered or extra care housing for older people. They currently employ over 150 staff and have an apprenticeship scheme, which started in 2012.
The Strategic Shift to In-House Repairs
Since Soha was formed in 2000, repair and maintenance services have been outsourced entirely. However, commencing May 2025, Soha Response, their new wholly owned in-house repairs service, launched to provide residents with their very own repair maintenance service. This launch follows a review of resident feedback, which saw that residents agreed insourcing a repairs division may provide improved service.
For the first time, Soha would be directly employing specialist tradespeople for this division to further increase resident satisfaction through their repairs service. This trade workforce will be made up of approximately 120 operatives, a mixture of direct recruits and staff TUPE from the outsourced contract.
The Fleet Procurement Challenge
Another important pre-requisite for the operation of Soha Response to commence is the selection and sourcing of the new van fleet, fleet management provider, and fleet merchant. Working with ARK in a multi-faceted and complex procurement project to support a key element of the new service provision for Soha response, Soha engaged with The Procurement Partnership Ltd (TPPL) to deliver support and services to help select a suitable vehicle manufacturer and supporting fleet management company through a compliant PCR2015 tender process.
Additionally, Soha required procurement support to appoint a vehicle conversion specialist to fit the vans out with adequate racking systems, and a telematics partner to support fleet GPS.
Project Planning and Collaboration
The insourcing of our repairs division is a hugely exciting project for the team at Soha, who worked hard to meet the target of launching on 1st May 2025. The process has been broken down into eight separate areas, which have project groups composed of a combination of staff from all different areas of Soha. Four of the project groups included resident engagement to ensure all elements of the service are delivered with their residents in mind.
Working closely with TPPL and their appointed Business Development Manager, Martin Potter, Luke Beard (Assistant Director, ARK) and Soha developed a strong fleet replacement plan designed to ensure vehicles would be fit for purpose and be delivered by the launch date to enable trade workers to service the residents of Soha with crucial responsive repairs to housing stock.
Contract Specification and Requirements
Following a period of pre-tender engagement with TPPL, the contract specification and requirements were drawn up. It was decided a contract would be tendered for up to 110 commercial vehicles, with an initial requirement of 45 vans to get the operation up and running from the 1st of May.
Vehicle Manufacturer Selection
TPPL supported Soha by working with the supply chain to select the vehicle manufacturer best fitting their operational requirements. Ford was declared the manufacturer which satisfied their pre-requisites. Due to TPPLs working relationships with them, a letter of intent was issued to the supplying Ford dealer to ensure vehicle orders could be placed with the manufacturer for the base framework to reduce lead times, ahead of the fleet leasing & management tender being run.
Fleet Management and Leasing Tender
Through collaborative engagement with Martin Potter and the TPPL back-office sales support and tender team, a compliant tender process was undertaken to identify a suitable leasing provider to fund and manage the fleet. The contract was awarded to Days Fleet following the evaluation of the 7 bids received, enabling Soha to conduct a thorough test of the market for their requirement.
One of the benefits of working with TPPL is the comprehensive range of fleet procurement solutions offered. This enabled Soha the ability to utilise multiple procurement solutions for different elements of the supply chain, including vans, fleet funding, fleet management and the racking/conversion systems. Additionally, it enabled them to benchmark and obtain flexibility on the number of long-term lease vehicles versus short term hire contracts. A key consideration given the fluidity of the workforce requiring a vehicle on day one of the new repairs outfit.
With an extensive range of suppliers appointed to each TPPL solution, Soha were able to conduct a thorough test of the market for each element of their fleet requirements. This was a key objective to help ensure maximum value for money was achieved.
Project Success and Delivery
Soha approached TPPL with a complicated and comprehensive set of requirements to roll out the new fleet to support Soha Response. By adopting a collaborative, flexible and innovative approach with ARK, key objectives were met to support a bespoke set of requirements for this time sensitive project.
Phased Vehicle Delivery
The initial 8 vehicles were delivered at the beginning of March to enable road testing, and a pilot crew were launched 8 weeks ahead of the new operation commencing service. The remaining 37 vans were delivered throughout April, ready to service the residents of Soha from May 1st.
Future Fleet Expansion and Electric Vehicles
The remaining fleet will be ordered following the launch, including several electric Ford Custom vans, joining the 7 Ford Courier electric vehicles ordered in the first batch. These vehicles have been assigned to Void Operatives and Supervisors. These are roles involving a smaller operating profile than the rest of the fleet therefore more suited to EV operating parameters.
Luke Beard, who has been working closely with Soha on launch of the new service, provided insight into the van fleet procurement project and working with TPPL:
“TPPL’s professionalism, deep market knowledge, and hands-on support were instrumental throughout this project. Their guidance at every stage helped us navigate a complex procurement landscape with confidence. ARK was pleased to work alongside TPPL on this prestigious project for Soha, and through close collaboration, we successfully delivered the fleet ahead of schedule — no small achievement given the recent volatility in the fleet market.”
— Luke Beard, Director, ARK
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