X-traordinary!

Date published: 01 February 2010

Ten years ago, a groundbreaking new company bought the entire council housing stock in Tameside, Greater Manchester. At the time, it wasn’t even sure tenants could get its name right.

But a decade later, the New Charter Housing Trust Group has achieved national recognition and what most companies can only dream of – the award of three stars in the Best Companies accreditation. Just 50 companies in Britain hold the coveted prize.

The Group is based in Ashton-under-Lyne and alongside the New Charter brand includes Oldham-based Aksa Housing Association, Nottinghamshire’s Gedling Homes and also has 37 of their 18,600 homes in Bury.

Labelled ‘one to watch’ in 2008, the social housing provider broke into Best Companies listing with two stars last year.

Best Companies uses a ‘Michelin style’ star rating for organisations that demonstrate high levels of employee engagement. Based on staff feedback, organisations receive a Best Companies index score which determines their star rating compared to a fixed standard. One star is first class, two stars are outstanding but three stars are extraordinary.

New Charter’s Group Chief Executive Ian Munro said: “We are all about customers and they consistently tell me a great company is made by its great people. We’ve worked hard to be a good employer as well as a great landlord. I believe a well trained and happy workforce is also a high performer.

“The results of the Best Companies survey should come as no surprise to me, as we listen constantly to our many employees. But I am thrilled to get the best endorsement, alongside the best companies in Britain.

“At present I’m struggling to understand how we can improve on this rating - but the extraordinary people who work for me know I’ll set a higher target soon!”

By setting up Gedling Homes, the Group effectively recruited more than 10% of its workforce in the last year. But new recruits are as positive as the more established staff.

Paul Willmore joined New Charter recently as a Neighbourhood Management Assistant. “My background was in sales, but I wanted a career change to something more customer- focused and local. Colleagues confirmed that this was a great employer, and I liked the look of the setup.

“I’ve been here a month and I know I’ve made the right choice. The homes and environment were much better than I thought. The induction alone showed me that from top to bottom, people are friendly and professional. So the claim to be about ‘Great Homes, Great Neighbourhoods, Great People’ is spot on. The pride is infectious and the place feels like the premiership of housing associations!”

Jonathan Austin, founder and Chief Executive of Best Companies said: “We would like to congratulate New Charter on its outstanding achievement. An engaged workforce is essential as organisations move out of the recession and into a more stable economic situation. Organisations like New Charter that have kept on engaging their staff and making sure they are involved in the business will be in a good position for the future and should be congratulated for their efforts”.

The same employee engagement methodology used by Best Companies is used to produce the prestigious Sunday Times 100 best companies to work for. That list will be published next month.