UAE-based property company Better Homes has signed a one-year partnership agreement with leading UAE facilities management (FM) company Farnek and home maintenance firm Hitches & Glitches.

Under the terms of the contract, both Farnek and Hitches & Glitches, will be the residential and commercial maintenance companies of choice for Better Homes.

Multi-award-winning Farnek has offices in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and a skilled workforce of more than 2,200 employees, maintaining over 2,500 commercial properties.

To broaden its service offering, Farnek has joined forces with one of the largest residential maintenance companies in the UAE, Hitches & Glitches, which provides home maintenance and lifestyle services to more than 10,000 customers across the UAE.

“Farnek has been established in the UAE for over 35 years and has grown into one of the leading FM companies in the emirates. Together with Hitches & Glitches, they form a formidable bond, able to provide quality home maintenance as well as professional commercial facilities management services, which dovetails perfectly with our customer base,” remarked Ryan Mahoney, the CEO of Better Homes.

"The agreement does not simply pay lip service to the preferred partnership, a concerted and ongoing marketing campaign will bring the companies closer together, through a unique mix of communication channels," noted Mahoney.

"These include email campaigns; website links and banner adverts; references in tenancy contracts and sales brochures, plus direct access to more than two hundred Better Homes’ sales agents," he added.

The partnership agreement with Better Homes, coincides with the launch of Hitches & Glitches e-business solution, ‘H&G Store’, which offers a convenient online alternative to traditional call-based home maintenance.

The Hitches & Glitches cloud-based platform has been designed specifically for delivering home maintenance services, as well as improving customer service, reducing operational cost and increasing revenue generating opportunities.

Markus Oberlin, the CEO of Farnek, said: "Through its 12 branches, Better Homes generates over 7,000 sales leads every month and issues in excess of 15,000 tenancy contracts annually."

"It is a key point of contact and trusted reference to thousands of new and existing residents throughout the UAE, providing us with an ideal opportunity to showcase our expertise while adding value to Better Homers’ core brand proposition," he added.

Lukas Eigenmann, the director of Hitches & Glitches, said essentially customers and prospective customers can choose from three options - an annual maintenance contract, emergency cover only or on a pay per visit basis.
 
“They can also manage orders, request quotations, make appointments, apply and pay for call outs, all online. During our soft launch period, we found that this was particularly convenient for landlords and homeowners who travelled extensively,” noted Eigenmann.

“The fully automated system also benefits our technicians. They can manage their own appointments, follow checklists, process payments and close job cards. They can also have a customer’s complete maintenance history at their fingertips, helping them to analyse and diagnose potential or recurring maintenance issues,” he added.-TradeArabia News Service