Not just a fair-weather friend

Even in the midst of a major re-branding exercise, when the going got tough for its partners, Willmott Dixon Partnerships kept on going – helping them to reach for the stars and fulfil their vision

Over the last year, the challenges have come thick and fast for Willmott Dixon Partnerships (WDP ), formerly known as Inspace Partnerships, but the company took them in its stride, even if the recent snow sometimes made things a little slippery underfoot.

There were certainly no slip ups when it came to delivering on the quality of its responsive repairs and maintenance services, and that proved just as well for two of its clients as they both faced Audit Commission scrutiny in 2009.

While all this was going on, the company was preparing to become WDP, so it was engaged in establishing its new branding for its uniforms, vans and identification, ready to go live in January this year. The impetus for the rebrand was to create a consistent and simplified image across the Willmott Dixon Group, and its contracts across the country. For the clients, the transition was one of visuals –the new branding – rather than upheavals, with continuity of service and quality remaining exactly the same.

And that smooth transition was essential, given the prominence of repairs in tenants’ expectations. A sound performance by the company was critical to the judgements the two social landlords were to receive.

“Repairs are the number one thing that tenants are interested in,” said John Muir, WDP ’s Southern operations director. “If we fail on our bit then it would drag the whole score down. The main purpose of being there is to supply a good quality housing and responsive repairs service, so if that fails the whole thing fails.”

In the case of H&F Homes, the ALMO that manages Hammersmith & Fulham Borough Council’s rented and leasehold properties, the outcome was particularly critical. I nspected in June, the organisation was looking to improve on the outcome of an earlier disappointing verdict in 2007. As it was, H &F Homes scored a good two star verdict with excellent prospects for improvements.

The verdict was a testament to the strength of the partnership, not to mention the hard work H &F Homes put into transforming its structures and overhauling services. The organisation changed its top tier of management, creating a smaller and more streamlined board. It also revamped its strategies, with a comprehensive set of action plans, with a strong strategic approach to driving forward value for money.

WDP, which is responsible for delivering responsive repairs in the South of the borough, and all of H &F Homes’ voids, was crucial for the ALMO to measure up, given the importance of such services in tenants’ minds, so the company’s staff took part in joint briefings to ensure everyone was kept informed and able to work towards the same goal.

Hectic the process may have been, but WDP believes the experience of mutual support it involved bodes well for the future of the partnership.

In October, Richmond-upon-Thames Churches Housing Trust (RuTCHT ) underwent a short notice inspection and scored well for its responsive repairs and its gas safety performance – both carried out by WDP. Unlike H&F Homes, which works within a self-contained borough, this organisation works across several different local authorities, but what made this a particularly challenging inspection, aside from the wintery weather, was that the organisation was also heavily engaged in the reprocurement process.

At the time of writing, WDP was waiting to hear the outcome of the process, but come what may, it is proud of the role it played helping R uTCHT to deliver a good show before the inspectors – and of course a good service to residents.

“Responsive repairs performance is strong,” the Audit Commission noted, with 99.9 per cent of emergency repairs, 97 per cent of urgent, and 94 per cent of routine repairs completed on target in 2008-09 and that performance maintained in 2009/10. G as servicing also demonstrated strong performance with 99.9 per cent of homes issued with a valid safety certificate – there’s only one home overdue.

“Customer satisfaction with the responsive repair service is consistently high and over the past year has averaged at over 95 per cent,” said Ian Watts, RuTCHT ’s managing director. “The overall satisfaction with the maintenance services in our STATUS survey was 76 per cent which benchmarked very well with our peer group.”

Meanwhile, the company is looking to strengthen its relationship with Phoenix Community H ousing in Lewisham, South London – a tenantled Community Gateway model – that owns over 6,000 former-council properties. WDP has been working with Phoenix since the organisation went live in 2007.

Jim Ripley, chief executive, has recently appointed Leonie Chettle to the position of director of asset management and Jim Humm to the post of interim partnering manager. These two appointments have provided fresh impetus to the partnership. Both parties are now looking forward to co-locating together when it consolidates its operations into a new base in Bromley. Ripley said: “Phoenix Community Housing and Willmott Dixon Partnerships are committed to moving forward to providing a first-class maintenance service to our residents at a competitive price.”

The company is keen to develop a diverse workforce and it is particularly proud of its efforts to develop the role of women in the industry. Set against the industry-wide figure of four per cent of female staff in professional or trade roles, WDP itself boasts of nine per cent of women employed directly in construction related roles, as opposed to admin support.

Over the years, WDP has seen women staff rise to senior managerial or board-level positions, such as Justine Fancy, who began as a QS trainee and is now the commercial director for the Partnerships business. The company’s commitment to encouraging women into the sector grows year on year and
in 2009 its intake of management trainees was 75 per cent female, such as Rosie Wilshere, a trainee accountant at head office; Laura Bater, a trainee surveyor on the partnership with the City of London Corporation; Melinda Simon is a trainee health and safety officer based in H ammersmith & Fulham;
while Alexis Crosby is a trainee surveyor, again with Hammersmith & Fulham. The doors of progression are open to the new generation of trainees starting out with WDP.

When it comes to apprentices the company has a dedicated manager, Sharon Ayles, ensuring it grows its apprentice population year on year and to provide them with the highest quality of training – most of which is now delivered in house.

To encourage youngsters into the construction industry and assist with careers advice and direction WDP also has a number of Ambassadors for Schools that provide advice. The company also operates a work experience programme – many of these initiatives are done in conjunction with clients’ community targets.

The company’s apprentice portfolio also represents a good mix of males and females, such as Amber Stewart, a trainee plumber on the H&F Homes contract. S tewart is one of many who can look at the women occupying senior operational and commercial roles in the company and know that their own presence within WDP is no token gesture.

Of course, from its experience over the last year, especially towards the end of 2009 and into 2010, it is apparent that WDP just doesn’t do tokenism – it delivers the real deal all round.