Lincolnshire housing association with base in Boston merges to form organisation of 37,000-plus homes

Longhurst Group, which has a base in Endeavour Park, has merged with Grand Union Housing Group and will now be known as Amplius.

The new organisation will now own and manage more than 37,000 homes across the Midlands, east and southeast of England.

Employing more 1,400 people, Amplius also provides care and support services and specialist housing and home ownership options.

The creation of the organisation was confirmed on Thursday (December 16).

Julie Doyle, the former Longhurst Group chief executive, will head up Amplius after her counterpart at Grand Union Housing Group, Aileen Evans, chose to step down. Aileen will continue to remain active in the housing sector, the association reports.

Julie said: “I’m delighted that we’ve completed the merger of two fantastic housing providers and created Amplius and I’m honoured to be leading the organisation.

“The launch of Amplius brings with it fantastic potential for us to achieve even more – building more affordable homes and being a reliable and trusted landlord that delivers the homes and services that our customers need and expect.

“By bringing together the knowledge, experience and skills of hundreds of dedicated colleagues, we’re determined to further enhance our services and I’m really excited to get started.

“The ethos of Amplius is to do more and go further for our customers and we’re driven to have a positive impact on people’s lives and provide good quality affordable homes and services that make a difference.”

The merger follows a consultation exercise, which saw almost 2,000 customers provide feedback either by phone, post or online. In total, 47 percent of all feedback was positive or very positive, with 20 percent negative or very negative.

Emma Killick, who was chairman of Grand Union’s Board, has taken up the same role with Amplius.

Longhurst Group has been behind a number of developments in Boston, including Caxton Place, in Norfolk Street, and The Leas, in Toot Lane.