Wednesday 27th May 2009
Cruden Property Services are a hit with staff and residents at Fernbank House
Cruden Property Services (CPS) operative Craig Reilly has proved to be a real hit with the staff and residents at Fernbank House, a Great Places Housing Group property managed by Cruden Property Services repairs and maintenance contract.
Fernbank House is situated just north of Blackburn town centre and provides 17 flats and communal facilities for young ladies aged between 16 an 25. The project is enthusiastically managed by Dottie Wilkinson who is assisted by a strong team of energetic individuals including Project Officer Hanifa Ismail. The building was converted and extended many years ago and as such has a constant and rolling repair schedule to keep it up to the standards expected of Great Places.
As repairs and maintenance contract partner the task fell to Cruden Property Services but it was not without it's problems as Hanifa pointed out "The repairs used to be an absolute nightmare to manage as different shifts would report different problems through to CPS and then you didn't know what had been done and what was still outstanding as some of the repairs would be in the flat so it was not immediately obvious, it was impossible to keep on top of." The problem needed a solution and that solution came in the shape of dedicated handy man and all round good guy, Craig Reilly from CPS.
It was agreed that rather than come and attend to every small problem one operative would attend on a set day once a fortnight and deal with all the repairs in one go, this is where Craig stepped forward just over six months ago. Dottie commented "Craig is just too efficient and an excellent relationship has been established, he knows us, we know him and knows the building and the residents. Because he now feels part of the project he takes extra care to make sure everything is done perfectly, it's working so much better than it used to and it's working out cheaper too!"
Emergency repairs are still dealt with under the previous arrangements but general maintenance and non emergencies are added to Craigs list for his fortnightly visits. Craig said "I really enjoy coming up to Fernback and helping out, all the staff and residents are so supportive and appreciative of what you do for them and it's nice of them to be so complementary of what we are doing here, it makes it all worthwhile."
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