RWS, specialists in security and refurbishment, has completed 21 dilapidation projects for travel operator Thomas Cook, as well as a nationwide fire risk assessment of over 700 stores.

The project, which began in 2017, involved the restoration of 21 properties owned or leased by Thomas Cook. Work included internal and external structure repairs, such as roof works, damp repairs, repairs and new installation of windows and doors, mechanical and electrical reconfiguration and new office installation, structural repairs, installation of partitions and suspended ceilings.

RWS programmed a system of works to develop fire assessments for the entire Thomas Cook estate of owned or leased properties.

Business development manager Ian Robinson said, “We were tasked to arrange a comprehensive schedule of works that would allow our teams of installers to verify the fire risk for each property and then bring the upgrade to each store. This amounted to approximately 700 shops nationwide including branches in Ireland and the Channel Islands.

“We reviewed the surveys and grouped them into levels of severity, which were then prioritised and zoned into workload areas. Six teams of trained installers started the contract in June 2017 and will complete the project in October. Our installers picked up on other outstanding issues during the installation phase. The new tranche of observations has formed the second phase of work, which we are still working on.”

The project team has since developed a sophisticated regional installation schedule and assigned project members to liaise with branch representative to make the works necessary as unobtrusive as possible.

Ryan Forman, property services manager at Thomas Cook said that the projects were crucial to the firm. He told Peterboroughbusiness.co.uk, “We have a large portfolio of owned and leased properties circa 600, so it’s important we maintain them so both our employees and customers are firstly safe, but also have a pleasant experience in our stores.

“Due to the number of stores and the varied locations of these the work involved could have been a huge headache, but working with RWS has made the process much easier to handle. Their expertise and teams of installers were integral to the smooth running of this project.”