Stoke-on-Trent’s Lord Mayor, Cllr Sheila Pitt, and consort Barry Pitt, paid a visit to Kier Stoke to learn more about the award-winning improvements the team has achieved since the joint venture was formed.
Lord Mayor Pitt was given a grand tour of the Kier Stoke depot and learnt how the team has continually improved to achieve a 99% satisfaction score, reduce the average cost of a repair from £85 to £68, and reduce the time taken to complete a repair from an average of 13 days to just 3.2 days.
The achievements were officially recognised in 2012 when the team, a joint venture between Kier and Stoke-on-Trent City Council, scooped a Tenant Participation Advisory Service award for excellence in working together. They have also recently been short-listed for the Chartered Institute of Housing award for transforming service to customers.
Cllr Pitt commented: “Both the city council and Kier have worked hard to improve the service for council tenants over the past few years and it is rewarding to see this commitment recognised. The visit has given me the chance to see first-hand how the improvements are making a difference to the lives of our city residents, and I look forward to seeing the continued successes.”
Improved service and reduced spend were achieved by implementing a new logistics model that makes materials more available to technicians on the road. This includes a full review of procurement and supply chain and the introduction of a supply scooter, which delivers urgent materials to technicians directly at the tenant’s property.
In addition, the team has worked closely with tenants to offer more convenient appointment times to eliminate the problem of not being able to gain property access, which results in reduced productivity and wasted fuel. In 2010, 16% of appointments resulted in engineers not being able to gain access to the property causing delays for repairs. Now, due to the new systems in place, 98.6% of appointments are met first time.
David Mawson, Kier regional managing director, said: “We’re proud of the improvements we’ve achieved so far and are keen to continue improving over the coming years. It’s a team achievement made possible by the helpful feedback we’ve received from tenants and staff.”