2011 - THE YEAR SO FAR

2011 has started well for the Housing Division, the fruits of our labours over the past 18 months are now beginning to pay off resulting in contract awards across the length and breadth of the country, including:

Gas maintenance 5 year contract with approx 2000 properties in the North East and Cumbria region.

Gas maintenance 3 year contract with approx 3,000 properties in the Cumbria region.

Gas maintenance 1 + 1 year contract with approx 3,000 properties in the Rugby, West Midlands area.

Gas maintenance 3 year contract with approx 3,000 properties in the Brentwood and surrounding area of London.

Central Heating/Boiler installation contract in Central London involving 250 installations over a 12 month period.

100% COMPLIANCE FOR PEAKS AND PLAINS

Peaks and Plains Housing Trust are celebrating achieving 100% compliance for annual gas servicing, in layman's terms this means all properties have a current CP12.

This is no mean feat and the Holy Grail for all social housing landlords, however with a concerted effort from all Integral staff this was made possible in January 2011. This is the first time PPHT have achieved 100% and in an email from PPHT's Chief Executive he acknowledges the efforts of all involved:

"THANKS to everyone for making it happen. Not only is it the first time it's happened here, but it's the first time I've ever come across it. It's all down to the whole team (the Trust & Integral)'s determination, drive and flexibility. A fantastic example of "taking Responsibility"

Not only are we performing on gas servicing, but we have recently received commendation from CPPHT relating to our repairs performance, in an email to the Integral team Gary Thompson, Gas Contracts Manager at CPPHT said:

"There were 941 jobs raised including cover over the Xmas and New Year period 99% of these jobs were attended and completed that was a fantastic effort considering the bad weather and number of calls received please pass on the companies thanks to all engineers, call centre staff and management in this busy period."

INTEGRAL EXHIBIT AT HARROGATE

The annual Chartered Institute of Housing Exhibition is held at the Conference Centre in Harrogate every June and attracts all the movers and shakers in the housing and building maintenance industry.

Integral Housing Division exhibited as part of the Northern Housing Consortium Village. This consisted of a number of Consortium partners occupying stands in the main hall.

The three day event was a great success and helped us to form relationships with possible future clients as well as mingle with the great and the good from the world of social housing, including a visit from Housing Minister, Grant Shapps.

Pictured: Housing Minister Grant Shapps visits the Consortium Village and the Integral stand

INTEGRAL HELP EDEN HOUSING INTO THE TOP 5%

Annual figures released by the Housing Corporation highlight that Eden Housing association (EHA) features in the top 5% of Housing Associations in the country.

John Clasper - Operations Director at EHA confirmed these indicators were measured against 406 general needs Housing Associations. He said "At Eden Housing Association we have seen continuous improvements in performance figures and we are delighted that we now feature in the top 5% for Overall Satisfaction and for satisfaction with our Repairs and Maintenance Service".

Mrs Nicholson is an EHA tenant from Kirkby Stephen who was keen to praise EHA and was not surprised to hear they ranked so highly. "I have my solid fuel heating serviced annually and really appreciate the fact that they make sure the chimney is swept too. I had a fault with the lighting in the kitchen and as it was an emergency, they were with me in less than an hour and a half."

Our relationship with Eden Housing has been built upon a can do attitude by the staff and management based in our Penrith office and as a result we are proud to have helped them achieve such high performance levels against industry criteria.

19/04/10 - Eden Housing Association contract extension

After a written proposal and interview with the EHA board of directors a decision was made to extend Integrals fabric maintenance contract for a further 12 months from 1st September 2010 with the possibility of a further 2 year extension based upon performance. As we also provide gas maintenance for EHA this award has confirmed our commitment to providing a full facility maintenance solution to the social housing sector.

19/04/10 - Eden Housing Association contract extension

After receiving the news Regional Operations Manager, John Ashworth stated; "This award could not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of the team based in Penrith, and I would like to thank all the staff for their commitment over the past four years"

13/04/10 - Integral appoint Tenant Liaison Officer

As part of our on going commitment to improved client and customer satisfaction we have appointed a new Tenant Liaison Officer to work on the Cheshire Peaks and Plains contract. Chris Davenport has a wealth of experience in the social housing sector and has left a long career with Macclesfield Borough Council to take up this new post.

Ian Jones, Regional Director stated; Our partnership with CPPHT has resulted in many innovative solutions to service delivery and the addition to the team of such an experienced individual as Chris can only further enhance our customer focused commitment to the partnership. Chris begins work on 24th May and we would like to wish him every success in the role.

04/03/10 - Cheshire Peaks and Plains Contract Award

After a lengthy tender process which involved a presentation to CPPHT residents and management, plus a site visit to our Liverpool office, we were notified of our success in retaining the Gas Service and Maintenance contract on 4th March 2010. The new contract involves the programmed service and maintenance of the Trusts 4,300 properties across one of the largest geographic spread of social housing dwellings in the country.

Chris Davies, Business Development Manager commented; "Our commitment to providing innovative solutions to current and future clients has been one of the main drivers in the successful retention of contracts and we look forward to developing further improvements to our service delivery with the team at CPPHT."

03/03/10 - The Housing Division in Brighton

Members of the Housing Division Business Development team exhibited at the annual Chartered Institute of Housing event in Brighton this month. The event is a prestigious date in the social housing calendar and the Integral stand proved to be a success with many contacts being made and future opportunities developed.