We are Platform

That was kind of quick right?

Just like life at Platform.

So let’s take some time to slow down

To relax a little

To RECHARGE

We are the biggest housing association in the Midlands

We have 48,522 homes

And over 120,000 customers

We have 1,814 colleagues

And most of them are in this room

Say hello!

We work across 3 localities

Last year we did 157,000 repairs

Handled 268,000 customer calls

And 127,000 digital contacts

We spent £86.4 million repairing, maintaining and improving homes

We developed or acquired 1,114 new homes

Supported 6,800 customers with our £2 million Wellbeing Fund

Gave nearly £150,000 in grants to local community groups

Embraced the pioneering Technology for our Ageing Population

Or TAPPI as we like to call it

To investigate how technology can enrich and enhance lives for older people

We installed a new HR system, and a new financial system, as well as our new contact management system – Platform One

All in the space of 6 months

How did we do it all?

Or do we mean how did YOU do it

Every single person this this room helped make all this great stuff happen

EVERY

SINGLE

ONE OF YOU

Every one of us makes a difference

Every single action counts

And that’s what we will celebrate today

So sit back

Relax

And get ready to recharge…

The most important part is communication, so when the customers are reaching out to the team that I work in, it’s usually a situation that they’ve had an experience that hasn’t gone quite right for them, so they’re looking for a solution, they’re looking for things to be put right as quickly as possible.

From the point of a forward responder, it would be a friendly face. We deal with lots of service users who are the most vulnerable in the community and to see a friendly face going into their own homes is really important.

When the service charges are calculated correctly, I feel that I’ve provided a good service to the customers.

I think it’s working together across teams to help some of the most vulnerable people in our society, you know, to help them get better lives.

It inspires me to work collaboratively with my colleagues across the business.

I think it sort of makes me want to work towards a bigger goal.

For me it is creating homes and communities that people want to live and stay.

I think it’s great for the Falls Response Team to show that Platform is much more than just housing, that we really care about our communities as well.

I think building partnerships up and relationships in the community is vital, so joining up all the dots so people can then move into different experiences with support from myself.

So I see my role as being that link to be able to improve the services from the customer feedback that we’ve been given.

My role contributes to the bigger picture at Platform by connecting the dots, by working with all different teams across the organisation, our leadership, our range of different customers and being able to identify what the needs are that accommodate every person in the business and making that happen.

Fantastic.

Exciting.

Inclusive.

Accountable.

Stability.

Honesty.

Growth.

Community.

Our journey begins with securing funding.

We are proud strategic partners with Homes England. Through our latest program, we will deliver 3750 homes and receive over £250 million in funding. Through strategic partnerships. We secure the financial resources necessary to kick start our development projects.

Once funding is secured, the next crucial step is finding the right location. We conduct thorough market research to identify areas with a pressing housing need.

Our goal is not just to build houses, but to create communities where people can thrive. Quality is at the heart of everything we do. Our quality managers regularly inspect homes throughout the build period to ensure that each home meets the highest standards. Our exceptional service and quality are demonstrated through our customer satisfaction rating of 84% from our shared owners who fedback the exceptional support they receive throughout their buying journey.

Our shared ownership offering enables customers with aspirations of owning their own home, the opportunity to get onto the property ladder. As part of our end to end offering, customers are able to return to us to purchase more of their home through the stair casing process whenever they want, when they are ready to sell their shared ownership home. We are also able to support them with their resale.

Our relationship with our customers doesn’t end once they move in. We provide ongoing support and assistance addressing any defects or issues which may arise post completion.

“They were amazing and they got back to me straight away. They’re really helpful. Gave me all the information that I needed. The process was really straightforward and simple, and I was kept in the loop all the time.”

“All emails and calls were really easy. They give you loads of information, including the guide about how to get set up and the shared ownership process itself, and then the process of actually going through and buying your shared ownership. You’ve got support, so there’s forms to fill in, but they’re really easy to do. Every step of the way, there is somebody that you can call and you do have to provide bits and pieces of paperwork, as you would with any other house, but I actually find that shared ownership buying was less stressful than buying outright because you’ve got somebody helping you along the way as well.”

“One of the reasons why Lynne and I would like to talk we are talking now, if you like, a thank you to them, and a thank you to them and saying to anybody that might be interested in going to a housing association or if they’ve been in one before, but not to this one platform, that’s certainly worth a go because these guys, they will talk, they will listen and they’re fabulous.”

We are Asset Management

We’re here to invest in, maintain and improve our homes, working to keep them safe, making sure they are energy efficient and here for future generations. 

Our property portfolio is valued at £2.4 billion!

We have nearly 50,000 homes, shops and other commercial and land assets!

The Assets Team are here to look after them all. From the time they are built until we no longer need them. 

But we all know that housing is about so much more than bricks and mortar.

It’s about PEOPLE – making sure customers are safe.

PLACES – building sustainable environments and communities 

and PLATFORM – making sure our assets deliver for us 

So let’s meet the teams that make it happen!

We have a Building Safety Team dedicated to keeping customers safe. They are our risk managers, policy creators and guardians of the law. The team includes:

The Fire Safety Team. They make sure all Fire Safety obligations are met, managed and our properties remain safe.

The Compliance Contracts Team. They make sure our servicing and repairs contracts deliver what they need to.

And the Landlord Health and Safety Team. They keep up safety standards in gas, asbestos, legionella and other crucial areas. 

Every single year they do over 135,000 safety checks, inspections, services and tests.  

Our  Strategic Asset Management team are here to make data-driven decisions about our homes, making sure our homes are up to scratch. 

Every year they collect information about the condition of around 20% of our properties. We call this a stock condition survey.  It helps make sure we understand repair needs, health and safety issues, and helps create our 30-year investment plan

They also make sure government priorities and new regulations, like Awaab’s law and changes to the Decent Homes standard are built into future investment plans and standards. Ensuring we spend our money to best effect. 

We have a Commercial Team, spending £120M every year on our homes.

They make sure all costs are managed, offering specialist contract advice and ensuring pricing schedules are managed via Open Housing.

And they don’t just go through the motions – they actively look for ways to save money and to make us efficient. They have carried out VFM reviews of voids, repairs and capital works, making sure we know where we can control and reduce costs.

They are here to make sure the Platform Pound is spent wisely.

Our External Contracts Team are the guardians of property upkeep.

They manage external contractors, defending against all disrepair claims, damp and condensation mould cases as well as so much more.

This includes kitchen and bathroom replacements, heating, roofing, and window and door programmes. They also make sure we hit our Decent Homes targets. 

We also have a Sustainability Team.

They are here to make sure we reduce our environmental footprint and to make sure all our homes have  an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of C or higher by 2030. We are investing around £65 million in over 9,000 homes up to 2030. This includes retrofitting ground and air source heat pumps, external wall insulation, and photovoltaic panels. All this promotes sustainable energy use and reduces carbon emissions.

We need to pull together across platform if we are to tackle issues like rising costs and resource shortages.

Together, we can prioritize patience, IT development and continued strong supplier relationships to drive success and help the Assests Team deliver for all of us. 

If you remember one thing from this, let it be that the Assets Team are fighting hard, in a very hostile environment to keeping our homes well maintained and fit for purpose.  Addressing years of under investment and fast-growing obligations.

Safety, sustainability, and efficiency are our priorities and combined will help us to deliver on our Platform purpose…

a customer first housing experience for a better future.

Ever wonder where our money comes from? Let’s take a peek behind the scenes!

Customer rent and service charges pay for our day-to-day expenses such as salaries and day to day repairs but we also borrow to fund large investments in housing for the long term. Customers rent helps pay the interest on that debt

Meet Jessica! She’s our financial guru, making sure we have the funds to maintain our homes, develop new homes and keep our communities thriving.

We collaborate with banks to secure loans at competitive rates and attract socially conscious debt  investors who share our vision of social responsibility and offering them returns while fostering community development.

But it’s not just about bringing in the money. It’s about spending it wisely too!

Meet Nathan! He’s our go-to for getting the best value goods and services for every penny we spend.

Nathan and our Procurement team work with you to negotiate with suppliers to ensure quality of goods and services and help us to set up partnerships that guarantee consistency.

It’s not just about getting the cheapest product or supplier, it’s about ensuring we’re spending our customer’s money in the most effective way.

And as we look to the future, we’re investing in it. We want to make sure that the houses we build and the goods and services we purchase are long-lasting, effective, and have a minimal negative influence on the environment.

Here’s Liz. She’s in charge of the finance ‘engine’ making sure we manage our budgets properly and keeping a close eye on where every penny goes.

Liz’s engine room is where our accounting is done and is responsible for ensuring that we produce accurate financial reports.

So whether you’re a cleaner, a property operative, or a housing officer, your role is vital in making sure we use our resources wisely.

At Platform, our financial success and ability to continue to help our customers hinges on careful management of every penny – it’s a team effort!

Let’s keep spending our customer’s money wisely so we can help them look after their  future, ensure the homes they live in are well maintained and continue to develop affordable homes for future generations.

My name’s Angela Robinson and I’m a neighbourhood officer currently covering Birmingham and Dudley regions.

I’m Gabby and I’m a market rent officer looking after all of the private lettings for the company.

I was in the block just doing some fire risk assessments and putting letters through to customers.

I was just alerted that there was a very strong smell and that residents had put air fresheners in the sockets in the landing.

So that’s what initially alerted me to there being an issue. So I knocked one of the customers’ doors and actually asked him, do you know what the smell is? And he just said, oh, it’s that door. He never takes his rubbish out, and he just said it had been years.

On the first visit, the customer opened the door after about five minutes of us knocking and he doesn’t want any visit, but me and Angela pushed it and he agreed to see us the week after.

Well initially he rang me on the morning and tried to cancel the visit but I just said to him, you know I know it’s scary but we need to come and we’re going to have to keep coming until we get some access so it’s probably best to just do it today.

He said he didn’t open a door to anyone for the last 12 years. Me and Angela were the very first people.

Because he missed everything didn’t he? He missed his new kitchen, new carpets, all the things he would have been entitled to.

He actually asked us to wear some protective clothing and he acknowledged that it was bad before we actually got there.

Yeah, prior to the visit, I spoke to PPC, and they very kindly offered us the suits and masks and shoe protectors, which was great. We entered the flat, and it’s very hard to describe. I was absolutely speechless. I’ve never seen anything like it, never experienced anything like it before.

Yeah, the rubbish was actually piled up behind the front door, so literally to get the door open he had to basically pull it open and then we had to climb over the rubbish.

At least one foot of rubbish we were walking on and that was the lowest point. The bedrooms doors we couldn’t open to go in. I mean initially that day it was more about reassurance because at first they didn’t want to let us into all the rooms but we may as well look and see everything, you’re not going to shock me. You know, we’re not here to judge you, we just need to see what we’re dealing with here, which was quite startling.

And we just reassured him that we weren’t there to evict him, which is what he actually thought, he was just going to lose the flat.

So we just reassured him that, you know, we’re here to help and to work with him. At one point he actually said, yes, I need help, please help me. Whatever it takes, it just can’t be like this any longer.

Social services did actually put him into a rest bite. So he actually moved out of the property because it couldn’t have been done with him there. It was just too much. But he’s an inspiration, he’s an absolute inspiration. You know, we couldn’t have done it if he’d have not wanted to do it.

But he was working with me all along. Whatever I suggested, he’s done straight away. He was on it.

So it was Platform Property Care who supplied the overalls for us and shoe covers and masks for the initial visit. And later on, it was Program Works, kitchen and bathroom replacements.

Oh, I visited him last month.

Oh, it’s beautiful.

It’s very clean, very tidy, it’s absolutely beautiful and when I visited him he said, do you know what Gabby, now if someone knocks on the door I’m so happy and so proud because I can open the door and say come on in, I haven’t been doing it for the last 12 years, I was too embarrassed and now I can.

He’s reconnected with family and everything hasn’t he, because he’s isolated himself from your know siblings and nieces and nephews and you know he’s got a son and got a couple of grandchildren as well, so he’s actually…

But now they are visiting him and he’s visiting them, so all of those relationships are sort of coming back together. He’s building bridges, which is great.

My name is Alparsalan and I work for the asset management team, as the asset management assistant.

I was born in Afghanistan, north of Afghanistan, in a place called Fayzabad, which is neighboured to Central Asia.

Afghanistan is a very beautiful country, mountains, very good views, and it was partially peaceful when I was living there, but unfortunately in August 2021 Afghanistan fell to Taliban, which created chaos for people.

I was working with British Military for 10 years back in Afghanistan.

Our purpose was to train Afghan police and also military, and we were working to promote democracy, equality in the workforce within the Afghan police and security forces.

So as an ally to NATO and also British forces, I was under threat. So unfortunately I had to leave my country and come to the UK.

Yes, so Platform Housing works very closely with the county councils to resettle refugees and immigration. And as part of that scheme, Platform Housing, in accordance with the Worcestershire County Council allocated a house for me as well. And it was because my brother was living here and I wanted to be close to my brother.

Thanks to Platform Housing and also Worcester County Council, they helped me to settle here and I’m close to my brother, we are almost neighbours, which is very good and I am happy.

So, I was introduced to James by the County Council and it was September 2022 and we worked together for two months. James helped me to boost my confidence after a couple of failed attempts to find a job, suitable job for myself. And he helped me with my CV, he helped me with my interview skills and also he also helped me to find job announcements in the platform housing.

I am safe, family is happy, kids are going to school and I have a secure job and I have a beautiful house. So everything is beautiful for me. I’m very happy