Echelon was appointed to carry out a review of Trafford Housing Trust’s (THT) in-house repairs service, focusing on its policies and offer to customers with a view to driving efficiency and growing the volume and value of revenue streams.

Echelon carried out a two-stage review process starting with analysis of the existing delivery model and a review of the team and the client/contractor function, the repairs policy and terms and conditions.

A series of benchmarking exercises and workshops were held with a focus on productivity and value, and residents identified 51 areas for consideration, while the consultation with stakeholders and operatives highlighted 42 operational and 30 internal objectives. The second stage was an options appraisal, considering a range of delivery models.

The outcome was to retain the DLO, which aside from some easily fixable issues, was delivering a good service with good benchmark costs, but 21 recommendations were made for future delivery. A detailed implementation plan was developed to redefine the service and project teams were set up in four key areas with an interim project manager appointed to lead.

Customer satisfaction has since risen, the Handyfix Service is no longer making a loss and productivity has increased as a result of more efficient systems and processes.