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Returning for it’s second year at Derby Arena, the EEM Showcase is back!

The EEM Showcase is a relaxed and friendly exhibition style event with around 50 exhibitors comprising suppliers and approved manufacturers appointed to EEM frameworks. It attracts professionals from public sector organisations who are responsible for the procurement, management, and maintenance of domestic and commercial properties.

What to expect on the day:

• 🤝 Networking Opportunities – connect with public sector organisations, suppliers, and approved manufacturers throughout the day
• 🏢 Industry-Leading Exhibitors – explore the latest products, services, and solutions from across the supply chain
• 🎤 Inspiring Seminar Sessions – hear from high-quality speakers covering key topics and industry insights

📅 Date: Thursday 1st October 2026
📍 Venue: Derby Arena ⏰ Time: 08:30 – 14:30

Public Sector organisations can register for free here https://eemshowcase2026.eventbrite.co.uk

What an incredible evening at the Building Communities Awards 10^th Anniversary! A true celebration of the people, projects and partnerships making a real difference across our communities. From inspiring stories to well deserved wins, the night perfectly showcased the impact within the social housing sector. Guests enjoyed a lively drinks reception followed by a three-course meal, with plenty of fun throughout the night including a complimentary raffle, cashless casino, chocolate fountain, Scalextric and a DJ keeping the dancefloor going into the early hours – definitely more than your average awards night! Thank you to everyone who attended and helped create such a fantastic atmosphere!

A huge thank you to our sponsors for making the event possible, including our headline sponsor Matthews & Tannert Limited, alongside:

• Bamford Doors
• Dodd Group
• EnviroVent
• Fortem
• Gratton Construction
• Hodgson Sayers
• Impart Links
• Integrated Solutions at City Plumbing
• Miller Knight
• Nationwide Windows
• Premiere Kitchens
• Sureserve Compliance Central
• Synergize
• UK Gas
• Wolseley

The evening marked a decade of fundraising through the awards, with an incredible total raised of £359,500 over the past 10 years! To see all of this year’s winners, take a look here: https://www.bc-awards.co.uk/winners

Please join us in congratulating Rowena Jones, our Senior Data Analyst, as she marks 10 years with with Efficiency East Midlands (EEM).

Rebecca Dermody-Simmons, EEM Chief Executive said  “Rowena’s dedication and commitment have made a lasting impact at EEM over the last 10 years. Her determination and expertise have allowed us to modernise and elevate our systems, reporting and data quality to match our growth and development. We’re deeply grateful for her contributions and proud to celebrate this milestone with her.”

Congratulations, Rowena, and thank you for your continued hard work and contribution to EEM.

With the launch of the government’s £15 billion Warm Homes Plan, the roadmap for social housing is now clear – we have until 2030 to ensure all homes reach at least an EPC Band C rating.

This landmark plan represents the largest investment in domestic energy efficiency in UK history. It aims to tackle fuel poverty head-on by decoupling electricity prices from gas, making low-carbon heating more affordable for residents. As the plan shifts the focus heavily towards electrification (heat pumps, solar, and batteries) and “area-based” delivery, the primary challenge for many members is finding a supply chain that can deliver this high-tech transition at scale.

Our Heating and Hot Water Systems Framework is already set up to help members and users meet these new requirements immediately.
This framework provides contractors to undertake the servicing, maintenance, repairs, and installation of domestic and commercial heating and hot water systems. The third lot of this framework covers renewable heating and hot water systems to support our membership with their carbon reduction and energy efficiency targets.

How can our Heating and Hot Water Systems Framework support our members with the Warm Home Plan?

• Immediate access: our framework provides a compliant, direct route to pre-approved experts, saving our members months in procurement time.
• Electrification-ready: whether our members are looking at Air Source Heat Pumps, Ground Source Heat Pumps, or high-efficiency hot water cylinders, our suppliers are ready to go.
• Value for money: our members can leverage collective purchasing power to ensure grant funding stretches as far as possible, helping you stay within the plan’s expected spending caps.

Whether you are in the early stages of bid writing for the latest round of funding, or are ready to appoint contractors, we are here to support you.

If you would like to find out more about how Lot 3 of our Heating and Hot Water Systems framework can support you in navigating this new funding, please contact our Senior Member Support Officer, Shannon Hawksley – shannon@clone.eem.org.uk

Following the successful launch of the Efficiency East Midlands Foundations earlier this year, we are delighted to announce that £100,000 of funding has now been awarded to 22 organisations across Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.

The Efficiency East Midlands Foundation was established to support community groups, charities and social enterprises working to improve lives across the East Midlands. Our aim is to help local organisations deliver projects that benefit people across the region.

For this first wave of grants, we chose to identify programmes that support:

• Social mobility
• Life skills
• Employment pathways

Many of the funded initiatives will help gain employability skills, access mentoring and support programmes and take part in work experience.

Several projects also provide specialist support for those facing:

• Homelessness
• Trauma
• Poverty
• Barriers related to disability
• Neurodiversity
• The criminal justice system

This funding will provide participants with the skills, stability, and opportunities to need to take positive steps forward.

🤝 We are delivering this funding in collaboration with Leicestershire and Rutland Community Foundation, with the support of Derbyshire Foundation and Nottinghamshire Foundation, whose local expertise helps guide funding to where it is most needed in communities.

Over the coming months, we look forward to seeing each project develop to make a meaningful impact within local communities.

On Wednesday 3rd December, we held our second Christmas Community Event at The Post Mill Centre in South Normanton. This event was a chance for our supply chain partners, our members, and the local community to have a festive get-together in our final event of the year!

At the heart of this event is our food bank collection. We collected donations for two local food banks, The Trussell Trust Food Bank in South Normanton, and Bassetlaw Food Bank. Thanks to the generosity of those who attended the event, and donated online, we were able to raise a staggering 4 tonnes of donations and over £2,000 to split equally between the two food banks!

Both we and the food banks were truly overwhelmed by the kindness and community spirit shown at the event and we managed to collect four times more than last year! 

A huge thank you to everyone who joined us and contributed 🎄🎅🏻

On Wednesday 10th December, the EEM Team enjoyed lunch with the EEM Board of Directors to celebrate the year!

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Board for their continued support and guidance. Together, we have achieved so much this year, and we look forward to welcoming and announcing our latest additions to the Board in 2026!

You can view the current EEM Board Members here.

Whether or not you have submitted an entry for the Building Communities Awards 2026, we encourage you to come along to enjoy the celebrations at Derby Arena on Friday 20th March 2026.

The Building Communities Awards is hosted by EEM to recognise and celebrate professionalism, excellence and innovation within the housing and construction community. The event is an opportunity to network with around 550 professionals whilst showcasing your outstanding work, and enjoying a three course dinner and drinks.

Thank you to Matthews & Tannert Limited for their headline sponsorship for 2026.

The Building Communities Awards has built up a reputation for being one of the biggest and best events of its kind in the region. The fun-packed black tie evening includes a drinks reception, a three course meal, award presentations, a charity raffle with fantastic prizes to be won, entertainment, late night snacks and a lively DJ with drinks flowing until late.

Tickets are priced at £100+VAT pp and tables seat up to 10 guests.

All event surplus and fundraising will go directly to the Efficiency East Midlands Foundation to benefit East Midlands communities.

The categories for 2026 are as follows:

🏆 Best use of an EEM Community Donation
🏆 Collaborative Working
🏆 Community Impact
🏆 Contractor of the Year
🏆 Innovative Solution of the Year 
🏆 Refurbishment Project of the Year
🏆 Sustainability
🏆 Resident Impact  
🏆 Supplier of the Year
🏆 Procurement Excellence 

The deadline for entries has now passed.

Almost 450 tickets have already been allocated, so please visit www.bc-awards.co.uk to find out more and ensure you book your table soon to avoid disappointment.

We are extremely proud to have been Headline Sponsors of the Charnwood Sports Awards 2025!

Senior Member Support Officer, Shannon Hawksley (pictured right), and Member Support Officer, Hollie Dickens (pictured left), attended the Charnwood Sports Awards on Monday 1st December 2025 – a celebration of sporting success, community sport and health and wellbeing.

Charnwood Borough Council used their EEM Community Donation to help deliver this year’s awards.

Congratulations to all nominees and winners – your achievements are making a real difference for sport and wellbeing across the borough!

Find out more about the event here.

International Men’s Day, taking place on 19th November, celebrates worldwide the positive value men bring to the world, their families and communities.

Rebecca Dermody-Simmons, Chief Executive at EEM commented:

Happy International Men’s Day!

I never set out to run a predominantly female team; it simply evolved that way. But in amongst the eighteen wonderful women are the five amazing men who help complete our team at EEM.

I often think that it can’t always be easy navigating the dynamic rhythm of a largely female-led environment… but they do it brilliantly. Each of them brings balance, strength, humour, and a steady resilience that makes our team stronger every single day.

Today is a great reminder to celebrate the men who show up with integrity, empathy, and dedication – not just today, but all year round.

Here’s to our fantastic five. 👏