The Hillcrest GROUP OF COMPANIES
ANNUAL REPORT 2016-2017
s ’ n o s r e p r i Cha t r o p Re 2017 is a milestone for us as Hillcrest Housing Association marks its 50th birthday. Established in 1967, Hillcrest has grown from owning a small number of properties in Blackness Road, Dundee to owning nearly 6500 today throughout five localities in the east of Scotland. The parent of a diverse group of companies, Hillcrest can celebrate providing a range of services that all contribute to improving people’s lives. This report is a celebration of our activities in 2016/17. It has been a year of achievements, building on past successes and looking forward to identify areas for growth and diversification to meet the needs of future customers of the Hillcrest Group of Companies. With this in mind, we have launched a new mission statement which clearly sets out what we want to achieve – Homes, Communities, Care and Opportunities. 2017 has kicked off with a programme of events to celebrate our 50th year
and I look forward to reporting next year on what a success they have been and what has been achieved. In one year-long event, staff have been challenged with raising ’50 Grand to Lend a Hand’. This has so far seen an amazing number of staff teams undertake a range of fundraising activities for the benefit of their chosen charities and is well on the way to meeting its ’50 Grand’ target. Our fundraising efforts will culminate at the end of the year when we host our biggest corporate event to date in a
bid to raise funds for two charities Dundee Bairns and Move On. In our golden anniversary year, it was very fitting to be re-accredited with the ‘Investors in People’ Gold Standard. This recognises the organisation’s approach to valuing our employees and providing them with excellent terms and conditions. It also recognises the hard work, dedication and commitment our employees show in providing a top class service to tenants and how much pride they take in their work.
Customer service is a key focus within the organisation and to improve on an already excellent service record, a dedicated customer service centre was established this year. Mobile working was introduced for estate management and a “self-service” tool has been offered to all our customers. These changes have increased accessibility for customers, enabled a more timely flow of data and introduced a system to allow for resolution of customers’ queries at first point of contact. Against the roll out of welfare reform and austerity measures, the housing and property teams have continued to perform well in excess of the KPI’s set. The rent arrears figures are at the lowest level for 10 years; tenant satisfaction with the repair service provided by our in-house team is over 90%; and improved re-let times reducing potential lost income are a clear indication that our staff team is bringing off an outstanding performance. Our money advice and tenancy sustainment services also work tirelessly
with individuals to make sure they receive all the benefits they are entitled to and that every possible support is given to people to ensure their tenancies do not fail. The Energy Efficiency Standards for Social Housing (EESSH) have to be completely met by 2020. The purpose of these standards is to ensure that people live in homes they can afford to heat. The Committee of Management recognises how important this is and has approved the plan to bring all housing up to the EESSH standards. We are also investigating other forms of technology and heating solutions with the aim of improving energy efficiency in properties that meet EESSH but are still expensive to heat. Hillcrest Housing Association is run by voluntary committee members and sadly this year, Dean Noble, a valued and much-respected member of the Committee of Management passed away unexpectedly. Dean joined Hillcrest’s Committee in February 2010 and was a very
conscientious and reliable Committee Member. He showed commitment and dedication towards his role in the Hillcrest Group and was much admired and valued by staff, tenants and Committee Members. Dean is sorely missed. Every year Hillcrest’s Committee of Management agrees objectives for Hillcrest Housing Association and, in consultation with their individual Boards, for all the other companies in the Group. In the last year, these objectives have been very well achieved and I would like to thank Hillcrest’s Committee of Management members and the Board members of the other companies for all their hard work, commitment and dedication. I would also like to express my thanks to all our staff members for their determination and drive to ensure that Hillcrest delivers an excellent service to all customers across the Group.
Val Howard Chairperson
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Housewarming Party
Inviting New People to the Party
With the Scottish Government committed to build 50,000 affordable homes over the life of the parliament a lot more people will be planning a house warming! The Scottish Government is working closely with housing providers to meet this challenge and as a key partner in delivering new homes, Hillcrest has undertaken to provide 1,361 new homes over the next three years. This includes realising their ambition to expand their geographical area into both Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.
When it comes to partying, Hillcrest’s established team can boogie with the best but it’s fresh talent that keeps the party going and Hillcrest is acutely aware of the importance of investing in a younger workforce. During 2016/17 Hillcrest was delighted to achieve the Investors in Young People accreditation at silver level, demonstrating their commitment to the support and development of young people within the workplace. Since then, they have seen four people successfully complete their four year apprenticeship in joinery, with one of their apprentices nominated for an “Apprentice of the Year” award.
Hillcrest recognises that how they respond to complaints is essential for continuous improvement. Hillcrest has reviewed their complaints procedure during 2016/17 to ensure they’re reacting to any concerns that are raised. During the year they received 698 complaints with 84% of them being completed within the appropriate timescale. An in-house complaints review group has been established and every effort is being made to learn from compaints we recieve with the ultimate aim of service improvement.
During the year Hillcrest also worked in partnership with the Equality Academy and offered a one year placement to a graduate trainee who helped them develop an equality strategy. Hillcrest is very aware of the support their young workers need within the Group and have developed a pool of Internal Mentors to assist.
Make a Wish A number of services exist within Hillcrest to help tenants’ wishes come true. During 2016/17 a range of tenant participation activities took place to allow customers to have their say and improve the service they receive. The highlight was the completion of Hillcrest’s second tenant led inspection which reviewed how the organisation deals with anti-social behaviour and listened to tenants’ wishes on how this could be improved. Hillcrest’s tenancy sustainment service continued to work with tenants during the year to support people to maintain their tenancies. An overall financial gain for tenants of over £750k was reached. Type of Gain
Instances of Financial Gain
Value of Financial Gain
Benefits
114
£534689.51
Charity Award
107
£30739.97
Food Parcel
132
£9652.80
Other
44
£19159.93
Scottish Welfare Fund
118
£112238.99
Council Tax
67
£54633.05
White goods/furniture
11
£2574.85
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10 Years Old The birthday celebrations aren’t exclusive to HHA! This year Hillcrest Maintenance Services (HMS) celebrates 10 years in business. HMS was born in 2007 as a division within the Group and established itself as a company in 2013. So a joint celebration for HMS and HHA!
Bringing Savings to the Party
M RIED R A C S K OF WOR IN 2016 17 OUT
HMS doesn’t need to wait for a celebration to roll out the red carpet - carpet fitting was one of their main areas of growth last year! Coupled with an increase in the amount of cleaning contracts, they plan to continue to increase this revenue stream and area of external growth going forward.
Life and Soul of the Party At HMS they know that young people can be the life and soul of a good party so they spend a lot of time investing in apprenticeships and training opportunities. HMS continued its commitment last year by employing seven young people in a rolling programme of apprentices across a number of trades. Two 4th year joiners successfully completed their apprentices and have now secured employment. In partnership with Barnardos in Dundee, HMS has provided work experience opportunities for two young people and are in talks with Braeview Academy to increase the number of people they work with next year.
Gifting to Others As well as increasing staffing levels, increased HMS growth and success last year has helped the local economy with increased spending on materials, sub-contractors, supplies, vehicles and equipment. In 2016/17 HMS spent £3.4m which was an 8% increase on the previous year.
S M H HMS
HMS continues to bring huge savings to the party. They carried out £9.1m of works in 2016/17, this being the highest level of annual turnover achieved since works began 10 years ago. This generated £1.0m in financial savings for the Hillcrest Group. The icing on the cake was £35,000 being gifted through our internal gift aid scheme which benefits the charitable companies within the Group.
Rolling out the Red Carpet
HMS HMS
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Finding the Perfect Venue Every celebration needs the perfect venue and during 2016/17 Gowrie Care concentrated on making sure theirs were fit for purpose. During the year, Glasgow’s Emergency Accommodation Service moved into a purpose built building in Portman Street. With 30 self-contained studio flats which have their own cooking and showering facilities, the accommodation has transformed how Gowrie delivers their service. In Edinburgh, Gowrie Care has moved and renamed two of their services to ensure that the premises are suitable for the support being delivered. The Lauriston Place service has now relocated to Leith and is called Lauriston in Leith and the South Fort Street service has moved to the Tollcross area of the city and has been renamed Tollcross View. For a number of years Craigowl Communities was a subsidiary of the Hillcrest Group delivering employability, training and money advice services. During 2016/17 the decision was taken to realign their services and bring Craigowl’s projects, where there was ongoing funding, into Gowrie Care. Craigowl’s Making Money project was mainstreamed by Dundee City Council which was recognition of the success of the project. Craigowl Communities ceased to trade from 31st March 2017.
”I HAVE DEVELOPED MY SKILL AT COOKING AND HAVE MADE THINGS AT HOME I WOULD NOT HAVE DONE BEFORE. IT HAS BEEN FASCINATING TO LEARN NEW THINGS AND HAVE NEW EXPERIENCES. I GET TO MEET NEW PEOPLE.” Lynsey McDonald
Top Class Entertainment Providing the entertainment and activities last year was Gowrie Care’s Hubs. To enhance the service they provide to their service users, Gowrie’s Improvements Team hosted a number of activities ranging from discos and dance groups to cooking and exercise classes. The major developments during the year were the creation of a photography and video project and extending their successful drama group from its original Dundee base to Fife.
ALL OF GOWRIE S SERVICES ARE RATED GOOD GRADE 4 BY THE CARE INSPECTORATE
Hillcrest Housing Association has over 6000 properties for social rent throughout the East of Scotland and is also the parent company of a diverse Group, providing all corporate core services to the companies in the group.
Gowrie Care provides support to more than 700 people across Angus, Dundee, Edinburgh, Fife, Glasgow and Perthshire. The people who use our services include older adults, people with a learning disability, mental health issues, complex needs, addictions, Autism and people who have experienced or are at risk of homelessness.
o i d w s c m s E i n v p c o
ENTERPRISES LTD
Hillcrest Enterprises was originally established in 1991 to provide development, clerk of works and other agency services to voluntary and charitable organisations mainly in the Housing sector. Hillcrest Enterprises is also the incubator for the Group’s new business ideas and ventures which generate profits to recycle into the charitable arms of the organisation.
HMS is a customer focused maintenance contractor who carries out a variety of responsive, void, cyclical, planned and property upgrade works for the Hillcrest Group of Companies and a number of external customers. With their team of tradespeople and support staff based at offices in Tom Johnston Road Dundee, they can easily access all parts of Tayside, Fife, Edinburgh and Grampian.
Northern Housing Company provides a range of affordable housing at mid-market rents for people on limited incomes, those who cannot secure mortgages, and keyworkers. They offer a varied stock of traditional and new build houses and apartments to people across Dundee, Perth and Edinburgh.
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HEL OWN
PROPERTIES
Party Performers
The Gift that Keeps on Giving!
Hillcrest Enterprises Ltd (HEL) continues to perform for other organisations and companies. HEL’s agency services continued to be a success and in 2016/17 they provided Dundee City Council with project management and clerk of works services at a development in Alexander Street. HEL also continued to sell back-room corporate services to external organisations throughout the year.
As a profit making company HEL gifts an allocation of their profit back into the charitable arms of the organisation. During 2016/17 HEL generated £17,500 which will be distributed this year in line with the Group’s gift aid procedure.
HEL owns 49 properties which continue to make a good profit for the organisation. The voids and arrears on these properties are extremely low and consistently below target. A number of support agencies lease the properties and provide support to the people living in them.
A range of projects were set up in 2016/17 using a total gift aid pot of £17,459 which included contributions from Hillcrest Maintenance Services as well as HEL. These included; • Sensory gardens • A contribution to the set up cost for a fully accessible respite/holiday home in Dundee • Starter packs for people moving on to their own tenancy • Marketing tools for the Hillcrest Energy Advice Team • Social events for Gowrie Care services
Bursting the Balloon After reporting losses over the last three financial years, the decision was taken by HEL’s Board for Right Recruitment to cease trading in December 2016. Right Recruitment was Scotland’s first social enterprise recruitment agency but the business model did not prove to be successful.
n r e h t r No Housing
Facelift In Hillcrest’s 50th year, Northern Housing Company (NHC) prepared for its biggest facelift to date. NHC’s estate in Ellengowan Drive, Dundee was originally developed in 1925 with a lifespan of 25 years. Almost 100 years later the estate is still very popular with some properties having been in the same family for over 50 years. The properties contain asbestos and need significant investment to bring them up to modern day standards. During 2016/17, a lot of time was invested in consultation and communication with residents as well as a detailed financial assessment. The conclusion taken by NHC’s Board was that redevelopment was required to make the estate fit for purpose. The newly developed properties will house a mixture of tenures and work will start next year.
The site at Ellengowan Drive is not the only one set to receive a facelift. During 2016/17 an extensive stock condition survey was carried out on NHC’s properties. The survey looked at both internal and external components as well as sample surveys of smoke and fire detection. A number of conclusions were reached with recommendation for further work which Hillcrest’s Property Department are incorporating into a planned maintenance programme. During 2016/17 a refurbishment costing in the region of £450k was completed. All 16 homes at two tenements in Baldovan Terrace, Dundee had extensive works carried out to modernise the properties. NHC’s new-build programme saw 96 energy efficient homes come into management during the year. These are listed in the table below. A start on site was also made on new developments, including our first mid-market rent development in Angus, at the former Ashludie hospital site which will be delivered during the next year.
Location
No. of Properties
Dens Road, Dundee
6
Stillhouse Loan, Kirkliston
12
Pikes Pool Drive, Kirkliston
8
Gumley Place, Edinburgh
29
Latta Place, Edinburgh
14
Seafield Street, Edinburgh
15
Tweedie Lane, Edinburgh
12
NHC S ESTATE IN ELLENGOWAN DRIVE, DUNDEE WAS ORIGINALLY DEVELOPED IN 1925 WITH A LIFESPAN OF 25 YEARS.
Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income for the year ended 31st March 2017
Restated 2017 2016 £ £ 45,762,475 Turnover 47,739,685 Operating expenditure (38,915,141) (36,488,816) --------------- --------------Operating surplus/(deficit) 8,824,544 9,273,659 Gain/(loss) on disposal of tangible fixed assets
282,458
317,498
Finance income
52,380
79,732
Finance costs
(5,503,197)
(5,668,791)
Pension remeasurement
8,011,507
52,047
Movement in fair value of financial instruments 78,175 414,822 --------------- --------------Surplus/(deficit) before tax £11,745,867 £4,468,967 Taxation (19,910) (36,920) --------------- --------------Surplus/(deficit) for the year £11,725,957 £4,432,047 Unrealised surplus on revaluation of housing properties 636,336 --------------- --------------Total comprehensive income for the year £12,362,293 £4,432,047 ========= =========
Consolidated Statement of Financial Position as at 31st March 2017
Restated 2017 2016 Fixed assets £ £ Tangible fixed assets 407,066,610 382,641,042 Investments 826,385 826,385 --------------- -------------- 407,892,995 383,467,427 Current assets Stock 21,980,045 22,059,591 6,210,752 5,707,645 Trade and other debtors Cash and cash equivalents 14,593,434 15,885,803 --------------- -------------- 42,784,231 43,653,039
(16,191,620) (14,825,064) Less: Creditors: amounts falling due within one year --------------- --------------Net current assets/liabilities 26,592,611 28,827,975 434,485,606 412,295,402 Total assets less current liabilities Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year (356,954,363) (338,599,005) Provisions for liabilities - Pension provision (5,445,927) (14,442,495) - Other provisions (3,961,735) (3,492,619) --------------- -------------- (366,362,025) (356,534,119) --------------- --------------Total net assets £68,123,581 £55,761,283 ========= ========= Reserves Share capital 86 81 Income and expenditure reserve 67,365,080 55,531,669 Restricted reserve 60,602 160,371 Revaluation reserve 636,336 Negative goodwill 61,475 69,160 Non-controlling interest 2 2 --------------- --------------£68,123,581 £55,761,283 Total reserves ========= =========
Members, Executives and Advisers Committee of Management Hillcrest HA Committee Of Management Ms. V. Howard, Chairperson Ms. M. Dwarshuis, Operations Sub Committee Convenor Mr. A. Russell, Audit & General Purposes Convenor Mr. D. Scott (elected) Ms. A. MacDonald (elected) Mr. D. Noble (deceased) Mr. M. Hussain (co-opted) Mr. T. Waters (resigned May 2016)
Mr. C. Payne (elected) Ms. E. McCurrich (elected) Mr. P. Shepherd (elected August 2016) Mr. D. Boyle (elected August 2016) Ms. J. Roberts (elected August 2016 Mr. K. McCracken (resigned July 2016) Mr. D. Weir (co-opted September 2016)
Key Management Personnel Group Chief Executive Deputy Chief Executive/Company Secretary Director of Finance Director of Corporate Services Director of Development & New Business Director of Property Managing Director of Gowrie Care Managing Director of Craigowl Communities
Registered Office 1 Explorer Road, Dundee DD2 1EG
Auditors Findlay & Company Chartered Accountants & Statutory Auditors 11 Dudhope Terrace Dundee DD3 6TS
Mrs. A. Linton Ms. F. Morrision Mrs. L. Dryden Mr. A. McGonigle Mr. D. Zwirlein Mr. M. Percival Mr. D. McGowan (resigned May 2017) Ms. L. Cunningham (resigned March 2017)
Members, Executives and Advisers
Group Subsidiary Boards of Directors
BANKERS
GOWRIE CARE LIMITED
Royal Bank of Scotland 3 High Street Dundee DD1 9LY Barclays Commercial Bank Aurora 1st Floor 120 Bothwell Street Glasgow G2 7TJ Lloyds Bank 3rd Floor 25 Gresham Street London EC2V 7HN GB Social Housing 35 Great St Helens London EC3A 6AP
SOLICITORS
Thorntons WS Whitehall House 33 Yeaman Shore Dundee DD1 4BJ Miller Hendry 13 Ward Road Dundee DD1 1LU
Brenda Fenton Joan Forsyth Sylvia Hopwood Janet Lynch Angie MacDonald Kirsteen Thomson Kenneth Birse Sandra Burke (resigned June 2016) Ronald Thoms (appointed May 2016) John Penry (appointed May 2016) Marian Reid (appointed May 2016) Gordon Sharp HILLCREST ENTERPRISES LIMITED
Wendy Johnston Ian Smart Prudence Watson Kenneth Birse Ian Collins Mark Lendon (appointed May 2016) Ronald Thoms (appointed May 2016) HILLCREST MAINTENANCE SERVICES LIMITED
Sandy Berry (resigned January 2017) Michael Burns (resigned January 2017) Dean Noble (deceased) Ian Smart Bruce McEwen Eric Peebles (resigned November 2016) Donald Ridgway (appointed May 2016) Mark Lendon (appointed March 2017) NORTHERN HOUSING COMPANY
Robin Cuthbert Rosemary Farrar Fiona Melvin-Farr Nicola Mitchell David Ritchie John Shepherd Stuart Shepherd Douglas McKegney Dave Boyle
www.hbrutherford.com
www.hillcrest.org.uk Hillcrest Housing Association Ltd. Reg. No. SC164046 Registered Scottish Charity SC006809
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1 Explorer Road, Dundee DD2 1EG T: 0300 123 2640