PHOTO: BRICKS GROUP

HCM PEOPLE

PHOTO: BRICKS GROUP

True Student accommodation off ers games rooms, cinemas, social spaces and study bedroom suites with kitchens

Will you add more wellness elements?

We’re tirelessly working to stay up to date with trends and believe what we currently have is a comprehensive package. However, we’re always listening, looking and learning – trying to find new services to offer our student guests and are looking to talk to people who have interesting ideas. The bigger picture for us is to look beyond our own business and champion wellness for the whole student sector, encouraging the industry and partners to come together, to have a collective mindset when it comes to innovative products, services and experiences; we believe this is the best way of supporting students in the longer term. What’s the commercial rationale behind the wellness integration?

It was less of a commercial decision and more of an essential component – it was a must-have of the brand. True provides the very best experience for our student guests and by making this a core part of the True Life experience, we translate this into commercial gain by way of higher occupancy and rates. To be the leading brand for students is a commercial objective and wellness is an essential part of this. 38

Issue 5 2021 ©Cybertrek 2021

PHOTO: BRICKS GROUP

In addition to physical wellbeing, student mental health has always been important, but now even more so, which is why we’re the only student accommodation provider to have an in-house professional advisor. Dominique Thompson, an award-winning and widely-published student mental health expert, with more than 20 years’ clinical experience caring for students, develops our unique strategies to identify concerns and provide direction, care and support to both our students and our staff.

How is True different from other student offerings?

Importantly, our number one focus is not just on being different. Recognising we’re in the ‘hospitality’ sector, and relentlessly focusing on guest experience has enabled True to establish itself as a premium brand in a fairly vanilla marketplace. It’s apparent from our winning the 2018 Property Week “Best Student Halls of Residence in the UK” award – for a development in Glasgow’s West End – that we bring something exceptional to the marketplace. Subsequent awards for guest experience and staff commitment demonstrate this further. We’re proud to be leading the student accommodation sector in areas such as quality of accommodation, guest experience, investment in wellbeing and specifically, student mental health support.