Chief executive’s report
We’re committed to exploring new, innovative opportunities. Given the scale of housing needs in the UK, combined with skills and sustainability issues in traditional construction, we recognise the need to do things differently.
The last financial year saw the whole country thrown into turmoil with the COVID-19 pandemic, and this has continued to bring us new challenges. Keeping our customers, colleagues and communities safe is our priority, and I’m proud of colleagues who’ve worked incredibly hard, ensuring residents and communities have all the support they need during this crisis while at the same time working very differently. We know there is still a lot of uncertainly, and many more challenges lie ahead, but I am pleased with how we’ve weathered to storm so far and the measures we have in place to take us forward.
So, we’ve done this. We’ve listened to what our customers have to say, which has led to some exciting changes to how we do things. We’ve introduced Touchpoints, our new customer experience, which means customers can access us wherever, whenever and for whatever they need. If people prefer to chat face-to-face or over a cuppa, then we’d love to welcome them to our store on Stockton High Street, and we’ll continue to follow government guidance. We also worked hard last year to bring you My Thirteen, and we were incredibly proud when it launched last summer. My Thirteen is our new digital platform which gives customers 24/7 access to all things Thirteen, giving them control of how and when they can access our homes and services. It came about as customers told us they wanted to manage their account in a more user-friendly and consistent way, meaning an even better customer experience with us.
Overall, the last year has seen us continue to make a great deal of progress as our neighbourhood operating model continues to take shape. The heart of what we do lies in our neighbourhoods, from letting homes and building new ones to connecting with customers and delivering mainstream and support services, dealing with issues and overcoming problems. To help us do this, we know how important it is to listen to our customers, including the good and the bad feedback, to learn from them in the future.
Every customer can enjoy an easy-to-use account with everything in one place. By the end of the last financial year, we’d already had more than 13,100 sign up, and we’ve received some great feedback. Customers love it!
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