Saltire assisted North Lanarkshire to bring their housing stock up to standard following changes in electrical compliance meaning that all properties must have compliant, interlinked smoke alarms, heat alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. Saltire have completed over 30,000 of these upgrades within North Lanarkshire properties and the final few thousand are being captured via forced entry due to various access attempts.

At any time, around 120 Saltire tradespeople are dedicated to delivering contracts on behalf of NLC including installation teams, gas engineers, electricians and joiners, all directly employed from the local community.

Month on month, Saltire exceed the KPI’s set out within the contract for emergency repairs, void works and other general routine repairs. The priority for Saltire and NLC is to ensure that the properties are maintained to a high standard, meeting all legislative requirements and providing safe and compliant properties for their tenant.

Saltire’s 24/7/365 Contact Centre manages calls directly from NLC tenants, where our Customer Service Advisors log the call directly on NLC’s housing management system, HSMS. The Contact Centre staff are all directly employed, most of whom are long standing members of the Saltire team.

The job is transferred via an interface to Saltire’s dynamic planning and scheduling system, Aeromark, which allows dispatch staff to closely monitor all of the work booked in and that these jobs are attended to within the timescales set out in the SLA’s.

On completion, the job details are transferred to NLC’s system, including any landlord gas safety records, installation certificates, etc. This interface is invaluable in creating a seamless process between NLC and Saltire for ensuring all information is available in real-time and accessible to both parties. Saltire have been able to customise and prepare reports in support of Scottish Housing Regulator requirements, e.g. first- time-fix and customer satisfaction. In addition, it also allows for internal management reports such as recall rates and boiler stock profiles.

NLC also have an independent auditor, CORGI, who check both paperwork and workmanship of a % of jobs completed every month. Saltire continue to achieve excellent results for both month on month and are often a large % above the industry averages.

Saltire are very proud of the service they provide to NLC and their tenants and excellent working relationships that have been developed over the years.

As a provider of social housing, Stonewater has a strong mission and set of values which align with Saltire’s own purpose, including providing an ethical service, promoting decarbonisation, and respect for the diverse needs of vulnerable residents.

With this shared ethos in mind, Saltire is working to deliver community benefits in the region for the duration of the contract, including supporting employees from the previous Stonewater contractor to retrain as Gas Engineers, delivering well-paid permanent employment to the area.

Saltire is also in talks with a Midlands-based skills training company to offer support for trainee gas engineers, with staff giving their time to help young people gather the evidence for their portfolio.