Rochdale Boroughwide Housing wins Princess Royal Training Award

The RBH repairs and maintenance team have been recognised for their outstanding training and development programme

Rochdale Boroughwide Housing has been named as one of 46 recipients across the UK of a 2021 Princess Royal Training Award.

The RBH repairs and maintenance team have been recognised for their outstanding training and development programme, delivered by the RBH people and culture team.

The award recognises the impact of RBH's 'refreshing repairs' leadership development programme. The programme has had a transformative impact on RBH's repairs service, delivering a significant increase in tenant satisfaction as well as employee engagement within the team. The programme also meant that the team was much better placed to face the challenges that the pandemic has created over the past 18 months.

The programme was delivered by RBH’s in-house people and culture team, working closely with repairs colleagues and with external partners The Houston Exchange.

HRH The Princess Royal, President of City & Guilds, awards employers who have created outstanding training and skills development programmes which have resulted in measurable business impact over the last 12 months.

Currently in their sixth year, The Princess Royal Training Awards recognise and celebrate organisations across the United Kingdom which have demonstrated exceptional commitment to training and development.

Despite facing unprecedented challenges due to Covid-19, the organisations receiving this standard of excellence have created and delivered highly engaging training programmes which have resulted in significant measurable impact.

Gareth Swarbrick, RBH Chief Executive, said: "The Refreshing Repairs Leadership Development Programme has been an incredibly successful step on our repairs transformation journey. It has equipped our repairs leaders with the tools and techniques to deliver excellent services both now and in the future.

"The programme has increased the confidence and effectiveness of the repairs leadership team, leading to greater engagement with team members, and ultimately a better service and greater satisfaction for our tenants. I'm very proud that this hard work has been recognised with a Princess Royal Training Award."

Norma Bradley, Business Support Team Leader, said: “There has been a massive shift across repairs in the way we work together, lines of communication are vastly improved, collaboration is evident. Without a doubt, this is as a result of the leadership development programme.”