One of the south’s largest housing providers has revealed performance highlights from its 2021/22 financial year, including becoming a strategic partner of Homes England and one of the UK’s top 100 Best Large Companies to work for.
Abri, which looks after 100,000 customers across 40,000 homes and assets, was named as a strategic partner for Homes England’s Affordable Homes Programme in September 2021 and has already claimed more than 25 per cent of its £250 million allocation. In completing 849 new homes this financial year and securing plots for a further 1,087 new homes for its pipeline, Abri has made significant progress towards reaching its target of building 12,500 new affordable homes by 2030 with a total investment of £2.6 billion.
Commenting on Abri’s performance, Gary Orr, Group Chief Executive, said:
“We know our communities and the wider sector are continuing to face challenges. That’s why we’re even more determined to build on our achievements by moving forward at pace to give more people a safe, warm and sustainable home. We remain as passionate as ever about tackling the housing crisis and building thriving and sustainable communities with more opportunity for all. Our £15 million Community Investment strategy is supporting employment, empowerment, and health and wellbeing where it’s needed most.
“We’re clear on our priorities which are shaped by our customers, our colleagues and the communities we serve. We have refreshed our 2020-2025 corporate strategy to build on the strong foundations we established during its first two years to create more new homes, invest more and do more for our customers and communities. Our refreshed strategy puts equity, diversity, inclusion and sustainability at the heart of all our plans.”
In its long-term commitment to be top 10 amongst its peers for customer satisfaction, Abri introduced several measures across the organisation in 2021/22, guided by feedback from its Resident Scrutiny Group. This included changing its complaints process, launching a customer complaints panel, increasing the size of its responsive repairs and planned works team, and the creation of three panels in its ‘voice of the customer’ framework: Thriving Communities, Safer Lives, and Know Our Customer.
“Providing really good customer service and putting customers first has always been our priority,” said Gary. “We’ve taken some big steps forward over the last 12 months and customers can now look forward to the commitments we have set out in our new services strategy, Customers First, launching this May. This strategy focuses on the basic building blocks of customer satisfaction: a great, well-maintained home and a highly effective repairs service, backed up by clear communication and knowledgeable people who are empowered to make decisions in the best interests of our customers.”
According to Gary, providing great customer service starts with a happy workforce, one of the reasons Abri has focused on creating a great place to work for its 1,500 colleagues.
“Housing is all about people and Abri is a people-focused organisation,” he said. We have been busy setting up the right systems and ways of working to build a distinct Abri culture based on our values. Based on the feedback of our colleagues, we were delighted to be named in May 2021 as number 73 in the UK’s Best Large Companies to Work For, as well as number four in Housing’s 25 Best Associations to Work For. With high levels of engagement, and access to our Housing Professional of the Future programme, our colleagues can deliver so much more for our customers.”
As part of creating a great place to work, Abri redoubled its efforts to build a fully inclusive workplace and provide services that reflect the diversity of its communities. This included the appointment of two new board members, former L&Q Chief Executive, David Montague, and broadcast journalist turned social entrepreneur, Veronica Gordon, to further strengthen and diversify its Group Board. Abri also achieved level 2 status as a Disability Confident employer, launched its Safer Streets action plan, and commissioned an independent audit of its EDI committee, amongst many other positive actions.
“Equity, diversity and inclusion is a top priority and we’ve made good progress this year,” said Gary. “We want to make things better, not just for our colleagues but also for our customers and the communities we serve. Our very first Inclusion and Belonging report reflects on how far we’ve come and sets out what more we need to do to become a more inclusive employer, developer and housing provider.”
The past 12 months have also seen some significant achievements for Abri in its commitment to tackle the climate crisis. Alongside four other peer housing providers, Abri formed the Greener Futures Partnership to help improve the energy efficiency of customers’ homes and create new standards for sustainability across the sector. In June 2021, Abri was ranked number four in Housing
Digital’s Top 30 Sustainable Housing Providers list. It also introduced its own further-reaching version of the Future Homes Standard – the Abri Standard – and launched Living Well, a national-facing research-based campaign that aims to make positive climate action accessible to everyone through climate-friendly eating habits.
“We’re investing more than £215 million in our existing homes over the next five years, helping to address climate change and making sure our homes are sustainable places where everyone can grow, thrive and belong,” said Gary. “We have a new Environment and Climate Strategy launching in summer 2022 which details our journey to net zero – not just in our organisation and homes, but also in helping our customers, colleagues and communities to embrace the wider behavioural shifts needed for long term change.”
