The Derbyshire County Council Trading Committee met to review the performance of its joint ventures, Concertus Derbyshire Limited, Vertas Derbyshire Limited, and Develop Renew. Presentations from Concertus Derbyshire Limited and Vertas Derbyshire Limited were scheduled, and the Director of Property was due to present a report on the council's position as shareholder and customer of the joint ventures. The committee was also expected to note and comment on the presentations.

Review of Joint Ventures

The Trading Committee was scheduled to review the performance of three joint ventures: Concertus Derbyshire Limited (CDL), Vertas Derbyshire Limited (VDL), and Develop Renew, which operates under the trading name PSP (Derbyshire) LLP.

These joint ventures were established to allow the council to concentrate on asset management, benefit from private sector expertise, and enable CDL and VDL to trade competitively. The report pack noted that the joint ventures were launched during a period of significant transformation for the council, including a deepening budget crisis and the onset of Covid restrictions. It also noted that internal resources for managing change and developing new ways of working were underestimated, which led to challenges from the outset.

Concertus Derbyshire Limited

The committee was scheduled to discuss Concertus Derbyshire Limited, a company jointly owned by the council and Concertus, which delivers design and property professional services. The proposed model for commissioning capital works intended to support a direct relationship between the service area end user and CDL, but this model reportedly failed to deliver the anticipated efficiencies. A centralised Property Commissioning team was developed to provide a more resilient client voice and greater oversight of all property project commissioning processes.

The report pack noted that there were ongoing challenges related to pressures on capital budgets and the impact this has on the pipeline of work and cashflow of the joint venture. It also noted that improvements were required to cost planning, cost management, and risk assessment.

According to the presentation slides from Matthew Self, Managing Director, Concertus Design & Property Consultants Limited, CDL had completed 200 projects for Derbyshire County in the 2024/25 financial year, and 1047 in total since September 2020.

The presentation also stated that a restructure and redundancy programme had been completed to align with DCC commissioning and wider public sector austerity at £0 cost to DCC, and that the annual colleague engagement survey had a 100% completion rate with a 96% engagement score.

Vertas Derbyshire Limited

The committee was scheduled to discuss Vertas Derbyshire Limited, a joint venture with Vertas, which delivers cleaning, caretaking, and grounds maintenance services. Unlike the model for CDL, oversight of the relationship and contract delivery for VDL remained with Property, led by the Head of Facilities Management.

The report pack noted that when the joint ventures were launched, the council was in a state of significant transformation due in part to Covid lockdowns, and that transparency around the true cost of service delivery was masked by the direct delivery model and inadequate digital and financial reporting systems at the time.

The presentation slides noted that VDL had worked in partnership with DCC to achieve savings of over £1.07 million in revenue costs through site closures, service reductions, and re-costings.

The presentation also stated that Vertas Group has been honoured with the 2025 Kings Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development¹.

Develop Renew

The committee was scheduled to discuss Develop Renew, a joint venture established as a limited liability partnership between the council and PSP Facilitating Limited. The partnership is used on an as and when basis where there is opportunity to deliver social returns from developing land or assets and where it is financially viable.

The Partnership has reportedly been supporting the council on only one project in the previous 12 months, which is Cavendish Road car park. The asset was registered as an Asset of Community Value², which required the council to enter in to a moratorium period.