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Student Accommodation – College House, Birmingham

Alt Admin • Feb 09, 2016

“... our experience with John Strand has been excellent."

James Homer

Director, City Student

The demands for student accommodation are still increasing and developers ‘City Student’ has been meeting some of those demands by creating accommodation at College House, in Birmingham

This development involved refurbishing a 24,000 ft2. B1 office with change of use into a student residence. The planning consent was granted in March 2013 for 90 en-suite studio apartments, complete with communal areas and launderette. The building costs were circa. £2million with works commencing shortly after planning was granted in April 2013. The programme was extremely tight to ensure completion in time for the 2013/2014 September student in-tact.

Sales Director at John Strand, Calvin Reeves was responsible for overseeing the project supplying and installing 90 kitchens.

We asked Director of City Student James Homer some questions about why, after researching competitors in the student accommodation kitchen market, he selected John Strand and how he found working with us:

Why did you decide to use John Strand kitchens for this project?
 “We chose the 1200mm and 1500mm kitchenettes, as well as a dining table and chair. John Strand had a good range at a competitive price, and a track record of similar projects which was very important. Crucially though, Calvin instilled confidence in us that John Strand were fully capable of delivering within the relatively short timescale”. 

How efficient do you think the design and selection process was?
“Extremely. I visited the showroom once earlier in the year, and was shown a number of different options from which I chose the most suitable solution. Calvin was always on hand to advise on any design issues

Please describe the delivery procedure and ease of installation of the kitchens?
 “The kitchens and furniture were all scheduled for delivery and installation via our building contractor. I understand that the process was very efficient and professionally handled.”

Would you recommend John Strand  and if so, why?
 “Without question. From the initial contact with Calvin, right through to the installation of the final dining chair, our experience with John Strand has been excellent. Lines of communication were always open for any queries, and any amendments or minor errors were dealt with swiftly and efficiently. Many thanks to Calvin – he made the whole process painless, I won’t hesitate to call him again for our next job.”

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