EMPLOYEES at a housing group have been applauded after scooping a national award.
Chester-based Muir Group Housing has been awarded ‘enhanced certification level’ for quality and customer service, giving the group top recognition once again.
The award was made by Quality Housing Services (QHS) and comes a year after the organisation was first recognised for its outstanding services by the independent assessors.
Director at Muir Housing Group, Sam Scott, said: “This award is particularly important to us because it takes into account what our residents think about us.
“Since we achieved our certification level last year we have been continuously looking at ways to improve.
“To be recognised for that and achieve an even higher level of accreditation from QHS this year is fantastic – and a true testament to the level of customer service our staff provide.”
The major achievement involved a gruelling assessment which included resident surveys and ‘mystery shopping’ tests to grade the quality of Muir’s services.
Over the past year the association, which employs about 170 staff, has proved it’s quick off the mark when it comes to satisfying its residents.
From April to November 2009, Muir Group Housing’s customer service team answered more than 85 per cent of calls within 20 seconds.
To make it even easier for people to get in touch the association has also implemented a new central telephone number meaning residents only ever have to call one number – making sure queries are dealt with quickly and by the most appropriate staff.
Chief executive at Muir Housing Group, John Bellis, added: “This is once again an outstanding achievement, that has involved a significant amount of hard work, but underlines the fact that we are great at what we do – providing excellent services that are truly local to the residents in our communities.
“Staff at Muir Group Housing deliver a fantastic service to our customers every day and this is something that we can all be proud of.
“The challenge now is to set our standards even higher, continue to look at ways to improve the services we provide even further and carry on not just delivering high quality homes but help build and shape communities.”