NEWS STORY: JUNE 2009

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Award winning

Celebrating our third award Celebrating our third award

For the third time running, we've been officially recognised for the excellent way that we care for our tenants, with a Government award.

Still raising standards

The Customer Service Excellence accreditation is a brand new award (which replaces the Charter Mark). It recognises organisations that meet the Government's high standards for brilliance in customer service. This is the third time that we have received this kind of recognition – we were awarded two Charter Marks before this.

How is the award judged?

Inspectors visit local offices to speak with residents and staff. They then investigate a great deal of information, including our business plans and statistics, before deciding on the award.

Why we did so well

We were praised for our strong culture of customer care and for the way that our staff work with residents and partners. The inspectors also noted that some of our work is leading the way in how to do things, and should become best practice. This included the way we provide information (our DVDs and interactive website were described as 'superb'). Our efforts to create better neighbourhoods, with initiatives such as the wardens service, were called 'outstanding'. And our partnerships with agencies across all activities was described as an area of 'great strength'.

Living proof

Robin Lawler, our Chief Executive, said: "We are thrilled to be awarded this Customer Service Excellence accreditation. I'm delighted that the inspectors have acknowledged the significant progress we have made since we received the Charter Mark award a year ago. This just goes to show how much we value our tenants, and how important their satisfaction is to Northwards."

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