Last month, Honeycomb Group announced that fellow Stoke-on-Trent based Unitas Maintenance Solutions Ltd (UMS) will become its home repairs provider.
After consulting with customers, Honeycomb Group made the decision to move from a national to local provider earlier this year. Keen to invest in the local community and deliver a more responsive service, the new partnership hopes to reconnect customers with a local workforce whilst creating an efficient, responsive and effective service.
So far, the partnership has proved a success with Honeycomb Group customers rating the service 9.2/10 in the first week. Interim Housing Director Steve Wilson explained: “Locality has played a significant part in initial success. During the first week, we had three UMS staff based at our head office to support our customer service teams and ensure help was on hand when the expected teething issues occurred.
“We also received great feedback from repair operatives who had been able to immediately collect parts from local companies and benefit from UMS’ reputation amongst customers and our wider community.”
Head of Repairs & Maintenance Martin Heath said: “UMS are proud to be working in partnership with Honeycomb Group to deliver essential repairs and maintenance activity to their housing stock. UMS pride ourselves on our ability to deliver excellent customer service and we hope all our new customers enjoy their experience of having works completed on their homes.
“Since mobilising our new contract with Honeycomb Group on Monday 7th August UMS has received some fantastic customer feedback which we hope to build upon over the course of our partnership with Honeycomb Group.”
It’s also a great move for local investment. By moving from a national to local provider, Honeycomb Group can retain spending within its ambitious city of Stoke-on-Trent.
In Autumn 2021, DLUHC awarded the city £56m to accelerate progress of three transformational schemes to stimulate the local economy. Further investment including a £125m five-year infrastructure plan, a £485m capital investment programme and a Homes England partnership creating over 3,000 homes has since been announced[1].
Honeycomb Group Chief Executive Julie Guildford Smith believes it has never been more important to support the local area: “Partnering with local organisations not only enables Honeycomb Group to encompass spending within our city but local knowledge, skill and experience too.
“The wider Unitas Stoke-on-Trent Group employs over 450 people and apprentices from Stoke-on-Trent schools and colleges, and continues to support Stoke-on-Trent City Council, the communities that it works in and a number of charities and organisation’s providing services to people who are homeless or suffering from mental health. This commitment to social value and giving back to communities is incredibly special to Honeycomb Group and in particular our domestic abuse and homelessness charities, Glow and Concrete.
“Although many housing providers have great success with national companies, we’re hoping to inspire others to think local. We all exist to support our local people and neighborhoods so why not take this further by committing to our wider community.”
