Client Spotlight

Using Technology to Enhance Planned and Responsive Maintenance Services

Background

Wates Living Space is one of the UK’s leading providers of planned and responsive maintenance services. They tailor their services to meet the strategic needs of individual customers, focusing on areas that matter the most.

  • Planned maintenance
  • Responsive maintenance
  • Integrated asset management
  • Energy efficiency

Wates is responsible for the maintenance of 500,000 properties across the UK, with 46 clients nationally. They directly employ over 1,500 staff and supply chain with an in-house contact centre open 24-7-365. Wates maintain an impressive 95% customer satisfaction rate and are always looking for industry-leading ICT systems and technology to facilitate a higher standard of customer service and tenant responsiveness.

The need

Wates Living Space required greater cost-efficiencies within their planned and responsive maintenance services, without compromising service levels to tenants. As well as creating cost-efficiencies, Wates need to ensure they are compliant with legislation, regulations and best practices.

The solution

Wates and MRI’s partnership began in 2016, when we were selected as technology partners to support Wates’ £540m contract win with Birmingham City Council. The deployment of MRI’s cloud-based Repairs & Maintenance solution ‘Maintain’ has enabled Wates to carry out responsive repairs, voids, planned maintenance and gas servicing to 31,000 properties across Birmingham boroughs. This includes approximately 12,664 properties in West Central Birmingham (Perry Barr and Ladywood districts) and 18,363 properties in East Birmingham (Hodge Hill, Yardley and Hall Green districts).

The key enablement factor is MRI’s ability to integrate to Wates Living Space’s existing systems, which include:

  • Coins Finance System
  • Kirona Scheduling
  • Travis Perkins material supplies
  • LGSR Electrical Certificates sent via FTP to Birmingham City Council

The results

Use of MRI’s integrated ‘Maintain’ technology has helped Wates Living Space to consolidate and improve service delivery, sustaining a high level of customer service delivery that the organisation is reputed for.

Solution enhancements include:

  • The addition of portal and apps services (in addition to telephone services) for real-time availability of appointments and appointment allocation on the first contact.
  • Confirming appointments and customer satisfaction using technology for reduced “no access” and minimising the need to re-visit. With no-access costing anywhere up to £60 per missed appointment, the use of technology here has created a significant cost saving but also, far greater productivity of operatives as no-access is minimised.
  • Deployment of Mobile technology, ensuring operatives are well informed before and during their working day. Maximising productivity and cost-efficiencies.
  • Real-time contractor completion updates, notes and feedback, keeping Housing Providers always informed about their tenants and properties and ensuring service continuity.

Wates Living Space’s project delivery stats speak for themselves, with customer satisfaction recorded at 99.9% for the Birmingham City Council contract. The success has led to Birmingham City Council renewing its initial four-year contract with Wates for continued planned and responsive maintenance services. David Morgan, Managing Director of Wates Property Services, commented:

“The success of our work for Birmingham City Council can be seen in the scale and quality of our housing repairs and maintenance across the city, and particularly in the consistently high customer satisfaction scores, our teams have achieved.

The true impact of this work, however, is evident in the extent of the positive impact we have made on the lives of local people. The team in Birmingham has worked tirelessly to find ways in which they can make a difference, whether this is in supporting students, training job-seekers, or in volunteering time to help local good causes. I am extremely proud of what has been achieved and very much look forward to seeing this great work continue in the coming years.”

Wates continue to utilise MRI’s ‘Maintain’ platform with over 10 clients, ensuring consistency in process and operational efficiencies are carried across wider social housing communities in the UK.

 

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