Read Phil’s letter to customers in full here:
It’s been almost a year since I joined Orbit as Chief Executive, and I’ve loved getting out to meet customers and listen to your feedback on what we do well and not so well.
From welcoming me into your homes or stopping for a chat in the street or in a scheme, to more formal discussions around the boardroom table, your comments and feedback have helped me understand what we’re doing well and what we need to do to improve. You’ve made it clear to me that there are a number of areas where we need to do better, and I’m committed to addressing these. To start with though, I simply wanted to say thank you. Thank you for being an Orbit customer, resident, tenant, leaseholder, shared owner or owner. We use the term ‘customer’ to cover all these different relationships, which is why I’m using it today.
Over the last few months, we’ve been working on our new six-year strategy. This has been shaped by feedback from customers, Orbit colleagues and our partners. It sets out a very clear ambition for Orbit to provide amongst the best experience of any housing association in the country, and key to this is making sure you have a good quality home that you can afford, in a place you’re proud to live.
I know we have a long way to go to achieve this, but I wanted to let you know that we’re focused on making improvements to our services and the way we operate, so you have a better experience as an Orbit customer.
We have a lot to do. It’s important that I’m honest with you about this – in fact, honesty and transparency are qualities you’ll see a lot more from us going forward. Some of these improvements will take a number of years to complete as they’re quite complex, while other changes are already being implemented, so you’ll see the benefit of these much sooner. I’ve included details of some of the improvements you’ll see in the next six months on the next page.
I also wanted to clarify what Orbit is. We’re a not-for-profit social purpose organisation, which means we don’t make profits for shareholders. Any surplus we make is invested in improving the quality of our homes, services and our communities, and to provide more affordable housing – so we’re not only focused on improving the experience for today’s customers but we’re also thinking about our future customers and what they’ll want and need from our homes and services.
Orbit is filled with incredibly hard-working colleagues who care deeply about this social purpose, and who are here to ensure we provide the best possible service. I’d therefore like to thank you for the kind way in which you interact with Orbit colleagues and I’m sure this will continue as we go through these changes.
Which brings me back to where this letter started – to you. Our customers are at the heart of everything we do, and we’re committed to listening to you and ensuring you feel valued, understood and supported. Further on in this letter, there’s information on how you can continue to share your views and experiences with us and help shape future improvements.
Improvements you’ll see in the next six months
We’re focusing on improving our estate services so you get value for money from the services we provide, and you can feel proud of where you live. We’re putting new contracts in place across some of our regions for grounds maintenance, communal cleaning, and window cleaning services. A number of new contractors will be delivering these services and we’ve worked with our engaged customers to make sure that the specification for the new contracts meets customer expectations.
For customers who receive a repairs service from us, we’ve been working with our engaged customers on improvements to our systems so we can register, assign and manage repairs better.
As part of this, we’ve introduced a new appointment booking system for two of our contractors, Fortem and MPS, so you can agree a visit date when you call in to report your repair. We want to get it right first time for you, so we’ve introduced specialists into our Customer Support Hub who can deal with more advanced queries about repairs and we’re working closely with our contractors to improve the services they provide to you on our behalf.
We’ve also made a whole host of changes so that you can expect a more compassionate and professional service if you ever wish to make a complaint – and your complaint is resolved within expected timescales. We’ve provided more training for all colleagues in complaints and introduced specialist teams to investigate complaints reviews. We’ve brought in new quality standards for our complaints letters and we’re focusing on learning from complaints, so we don’t continue to make the same mistakes.
The overall improvements in the customer journey will take a year or more to implement, but we have committed £24 million to these improvements and will keep you informed as we make progress.
Share your views with us
It’s important that customer views continue to help shape our services and that we remain focused on what really matters to you. There are many ways you can share your feedback, including through our Your Voice Facebook Group where you can join discussions and take part in activities such as polls and live streams. Find out more on our Customer Engagement Facebook group.
We’re always grateful to customers who provide their views through the many telephone and email surveys we run throughout the year, and I’d urge you to take the opportunity to have your say if you’re contacted to provide your feedback in this way.
I’ll be keeping you updated on the ways in which your feedback is helping to drive improvements and how we’re doing when it comes to delivering on the commitments set out in our new strategy. In the meantime, you can find out more about some of the changes we’re making to give you a better experience here.
Yours sincerely,
Phil Andrew
Chief Executive
You can read more about our 2030 strategy here
Updated on 11 July 2024
