Official Statement – 1st February 2024

30th Jan, 24

The Boards of Bespoke Supportive Tenancies (BeST) and Westmoreland Supported Housing (WSHL) are pleased to announce that, with effect from 1st February 2024, the two organisations will form a voluntary, non-binding partnership with the aim of undertaking a full merger in due course.  

The Boards believe that bringing together the capabilities and scale of both organisations would represent a significant opportunity to improve the customer offering and financial strength of both entities, whilst accelerating their routes to achieving regulatory compliance.

The initial focus of the partnership is to share leadership and expertise in order to drive improvements in performance for both.  The organisations will share one appointed Chief Executive – Steve Fensom, the current CEO of Westmoreland.

Jayne Francis-Ward, Chair of Westmoreland commented, “We are immensely proud of Westmoreland’s progress over the past 2-3 years in making our organisation sustainable in the long term and ensuring the quality and safety of our customers’ homes for the duration.  Westmoreland is now looking forward to further improvements and growth – and to finally achieve regulatory compliance.  The opportunity to create a strategic partnership with BeST, an organisation with a very similar purpose and values to ourselves, allows Westmoreland to accelerate its recovery and to move forward with even greater confidence.”

Tom Miskell, Chair of BeST commented, “BeST is a values-based organisation, proud of its purpose, team and delivery for some of the most vulnerable people in our society.   In recent years, despite a number of key improvements, BeST’s performance has not achieved the levels it had aimed for.  Partnering with Westmoreland, the appointment of a new CEO and both teams collaborating at multiple levels across each business will provide BeST with the impetus to recover its position, improve its offering to customers and to close the gap to regulatory compliance.  Both organisations are very excited to start this new chapter”.

At this time, both organisations remain separate entities, independently regulated by the Regulator of Social Housing.  

Further announcements will be made in due course.

BeST is a registered provider of Specialised Supported Housing for vulnerable adults across England & Wales with a head office in Eccles, west Manchester.  It manages around 288 properties for 1,500 customers.

WSHL is a registered provider of Specialised Supported Housing for vulnerable adults across England and Wales with a head office in Nottingham.  It manages around 136 properties for 560 customers.

Newly appointed CEO

29th Jan, 24

We welcome our newly appointed CEO of Bespoke Supportive Tenancies, Steve Fensom. With a primary focus on enhancing service quality and implementing positive changes for the benefit of tenants, the CEO brings a wealth of experience to their role. In addition to leading BeST, Steve also serves as the CEO of another supported housing association, Westmoreland Supported Housing, which offers similar services. The CEO is committed to leveraging his skills and expertise to achieve shared goals.

It is important to note that Shelley Hobbs continues to serve as the Managing Director. The team is also excited to welcome Daniel Rooke as the new Head of Assets and Graham Whittingham as the Contracts Manager. Both individuals bring extensive experience and knowledge to contribute significantly to the ongoing improvements. 

Important changes to our repairs and maintenance service

10th Jan, 24

We are excited to announce that our responsive repairs service is now being handled by Renov8. They bring a wealth of expertise and a commitment to delivering high quality service.

The way you report repairs has changed slightly.

To report any repairs:
Email: repairs@renov8.uk
Phone: 01254 205200

You can also call our usual office number on 0161 786 6000 (Option 1) and we will automatically connect you to Renov8's helpdesk. The same phone numbers apply for the out-of-hours emergency repairs service, and you can still report repairs via our website.

BeST has retained management of our property services to include:

• H&S inspection checks (Fire safety, gas, electrical, legionella)
• Gardening and window cleaning
• White goods
• Adaptations and specialist equipment
• Furniture-related enquiries
• Voids

To report or discuss any of the above services:
Email: propertyservices@bestha.co.uk
Phone: 0161 786 6000 (Option 2)

CHRISTMAS OPENING HOURS

7th Dec, 22

Our Christmas and New Year opening hours are:

Fri 23rd Dec: 9am-5pm
Mon 26th Dec: Closed
Tues 27th Dec: Closed
Weds 28th Dec: 10am to 3pm
Thurs 29th Dec: 10am to 3pm
Fri 30th Dec: 10am to 3pm
Mon 2nd Jan: Closed
Tues 3rd Jan: Return to usual hours

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from everyone at BeST!

Safeguarding Adult Week 2022

21st Nov, 22

We are supporting Ann Craft Trust #SafeguardingAdultsWeek 2022

This #SafeguardingAdultsWeek marks the 30th anniversary of the Ann Craft Trust!

Check out their range of free resources to improve your #safeguarding knowledge!

https://www.anncrafttrust.org/

halloween photo competition

17th Oct, 22

 We are looking for your best Halloween photos 

1st place wins a £30 voucher of their choice, 2nd place wins a £20 voucher and 3rd place wins a £10 voucher

To enter, send your photos to communications@bestha.co.uk or WhatsApp +44 7525 277308

Entries close Friday 4th November!

The winners will be notified within 28 days of the closing date.
Good luck!

COMPETITION TIME!

30th May, 22

We are looking for the best Jubilee party photos  

1st place wins a £30 voucher of their choice, 2nd place wins a £20 voucher and 3rd place wins a £10 voucher

To enter, send a photo of your celebrations to communications@bestha.co.uk or WhatsApp 07525277308

Entries close Friday 10th June!

MONTHLY SCRUTINY SESSIONS

24th Feb, 22

Did you know, we hold scrutiny sessions on the last Monday of every month at 1pm on Zoom? 

Tenants and support are invited to come along and tell us where they think we are doing well and not so well. Tenants and staff can come and challenge us on our decisions and our policies and procedures to ensure that we provide the best services with the best possible outcome for our tenants. 

For the Zoom link to attend or for more information, please email casey.willis@bestha.co.uk 

You can also call, text, or WhatsApp Casey on 07525277308 or call 0161 786 6000 and press 205. 

TENANTS SCRUTINISE BEST SESSION

12th Jan, 22

We would like to invite you to our Tenants Scrutinise BeST session;

Date: Monday, 31^st January 2022
Time: 1 pm – 2 pm
Place: Zoom Meeting

Tenants and support are invited to attend the meeting to scrutinise BeST. 
 
Please email casey.willis@bestha.co.uk for the Zoom link to attend.

If you would like to discuss anything further, you can call, text, or WhatsApp Casey on 07525277308 or call 0161 786 6000 and press 205.

Tenants Scrutinise BeST session

22nd Sep, 21

We would like to invite you to our Tenants Scrutinise BeST session;

Date: Monday, 27^th September 2021
Time: 10 am – 11 am
Place: Zoom Meeting

Tenants and support providers are invited to attend the meeting to scrutinise communication between BeST, tenants and support providers. This may include, BeST’s customer service, the website, letters, leaflets, emails, Snippets newsletter, and other aspects of communication.
 
Please email casey.willis@bestha.co.uk for the Zoom link to attend.

If you would like to discuss anything further, you can call, text, or WhatsApp Casey on 07525277308 or call 0161 786 6000 and press 205.

National Scrutiny Week SEPTEMBER 27-1 OCTOBER 2021

22nd Sep, 21

This year, BeST are taking part in The National Scrutiny Week. The week is being coordinated by Tpas. As members of Tpas we can join all the virtual events as part of the week for free. It’s a chance for us to celebrate the impact of our scrutiny work and learn about how other organisations work in partnership with their tenants too. Highlights during the week include a No-Nonsense guide to scrutiny and Scrutiny Top Tips workshops. Plus there will be live tenant discussions and showcase sessions.

For more information visit tpas.org.uk. Tenants and staff can register an account to access the free events here!

Gas Safety Week 13-19 September 2021

9th Sep, 21

Not long now until Gas Safety Week! We’ve pledged our support. If you want to get involved in promoting gas safety to the nation and endorsing community safety, why not sign up today to receive free gas safety materials?   bit.ly/TK_GSW21  #GSW21 #GasSafetyWeek

Gas Safety Week is a national safety campaign to raise awareness of gas safety in the UK. Taking place 13-19 September 2021. 

Picnic in the Park - Harrogate

1st Sep, 21

On Sunday 19th September 2021, 11 am - 3 pm ubu are hosting a free day of fun for all ages to raise awareness for mental health and wellbeing in the community of Harrogate. The charity event is for Harrogate Mind. Bring your friends, families, and work colleagues along to their picnic in the park. There will be live entertainment in the bandstand with local artists and musicians. ubu ask that all guests bring their own picnic / food, blankets or seating, appropriate clothing and footwear. Food can also be purchased at the cafe located in the park. 

Zoom Meet and greet

27th Jul, 21

We are hosting a meet and greet via Zoom on Tuesday 20th July at 10am. 
Come along and meet other tenants and staff!
If you would like to come along, please email casey.willis@bestha.co.uk for the link and passcode 

Independent tenant profiling surveys

27th Jul, 21

Over the next eight weeks, throughout July-September, you may get contacted to help complete our tenant profiling survey. We have asked a specialist housing consultant ‘Acuity’ who are experienced in tenant satisfaction and housing research, to carry out these surveys independently. Acuity will be sending out surveys in the post, online and by text to our tenants where we hold contact information. However, the contact numbers and emails we have are mainly for support staff/ managers. If and when you may be contacted, please can you support our tenants to complete the survey.

It is important that these surveys are completed because we want to improve and provide the best housing service possible. To continue developing and improving the services we provide, we need to understand our tenants better and ensure that the information we hold is accurate and up to date. Most of the responses are really straightforward, but there are some more personal questions about characteristics and financial circumstances. Although we recognise that some of this may seem intrusive, its collection is intended solely for tenants potential benefit.

What our tenants tell us will be strictly confidential. Acuity will report the findings to BeST following strict GDPR guidelines. We will not share this data with any other organisation. We hope you can take some time to help our tenants complete the survey; Our tenant views are very important to us. If tenants would like someone to help them complete the survey, they can do so.

If you have any questions, please get in touch.

Everyone who completes the survey will be entered into a prize draw. We will select six responses at random to win a  prize of a £20 shopping voucher each.

New phone system and options

27th Jul, 21

Our new phone system goes live 15/06/21 our office number is the same 0161 786 6000 but our options have changed sightly:

• To report a new repair please press option 1
• If you are calling about a repair that has already been reported, please have your reference number ready and press option 2
• To discuss a housing or tenancy related issue please press option 3
• To discuss an invoice please press option 4
• To discuss your rent account balance or for help claiming Housing Benefit please press option 5
• For all other enquiries please press option 6

Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code

27th Jul, 21

BeST has completed the self-assessment 2020 and copies are available on request. 

Regulatory Update

27th Jul, 21

Following the Regulators engagement, BeST has taken steps to improve its statutory compliance position and has commissioned several statutory checks, as well as demonstrating an improved understanding of our responsibilities in relation to leased stock. We have appointed an external contractor to undertake the outstanding checks and have developed a plan to set out how this will be delivered. We will continue to work closely with the Regulator to achieve full compliance with the Regulatory Standards.