Ian’s thoughts - A customer’s point of view
As you know, it’s really important to us to find out what our customers think
of any plans we have so we asked Ian Macadie to share his thoughts on the
partnership.
Ian has been a Bromford customer for 20 years and has been an active
member of our Customer and Community Network (CCN) for almost half of that
time. A shared ownership homeowner in Cheltenham, he has a background
in occupational psychology and HR and has a real interest in the delivery of
services and a passion for helping Bromford understand what customers want
and expect.
“When I first heard the news about the partnership I was pretty open-minded
about it. Living in Cheltenham I’d obviously heard of Merlin but didn’t know
anything about them and did wonder how it was going to work. I thought of it a
bit like a jigsaw – how would all the pieces of the two organisations fit together?
But after a little research, and a number of conversations, any reservations I
might have had were quickly dispelled - all the signs suggest that it will be a
very good fit.
“When two things come together there will always be differences and there will
be a few differences between Bromford and Merlin. Some people might see this
a negative but I prefer to look at it in a more positive light.
“Where there are differences there is scope for learning from one another
and opportunities are opened up to think differently. I see the partnership as
a fantastic opportunity to revitalise our customer service approach, and the
challenge is to make sure that any learnings have a positive impact for all
Bromford customers.
“The key is not to be scared of differences – to embrace them, learn from them
and use them to revitalise our general focus on how we deliver services and
organise ourselves. If everyone does this I can see a very bright future ahead
for the new Bromford - I certainly feel there are very exciting times ahead for all
colleagues and customers alike.”
Customer Annual Review 2018