TV adventurer holds key for New Charter

Date published: 05 March 2010

Ben Fogle has rowed the Atlantic, raced across the Sahara and explored Antarctica. But a successful repairs team who work in all weathers are hoping he will be discover them this spring.

New Charter Building Company based in Dukinfield has been shortlisted from more than 300 entries to the 2010 Housing Heroes Awards. And TV presenter Fogle will reveal the winners at London’s Hilton Hotel on 14 May.

The awards are in their second year, and will once again shine the spotlight on the people and teams that are doing great work in the social housing sector. New Charter Building Company is in the final six for the accolade “Maintenance Team of the Year”.

Managing Director Andy Stafford said: “Tenants are quite clear - repairs are the single most important issue for landlords to get right. Our responsive team work alongside our improvement squad to provide a 24 hour service. We’re rightly proud of our performance which achieves over 83% overall satisfaction from customers each year.

“This winter’s challenging weather conditions brought out the heroes in my workforce, and I’m hopeful we can attract this prestigious award.”

Howard Farrand, President of the Chartered Institute of Housing said he was amazed by the fantastic people working in housing. “Our sector spends a great deal of time talking about policy and strategy, business plans and budgets, our visions and our mission statements. Of course all of these things are really important. But in my experience, it is the extraordinary people that do fantastic work for our customers that make the real difference.

“So I want to congratulate every finalist for getting this far in these awards. It was extremely tightly contested, and I look forward to helping to unveil the eventual winners in May.”

Inside Housing’s events director Ted Stevens said: “All the finalists have done brilliantly in getting this far. Well done to New Charter Building Company for getting shortlisted. The competition was really fierce with more than 40 entries in some categories.”

The awards are organised by Inside Housing magazine and the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH), and attracted a phenomenal response with submissions from across the UK. The awards are sponsored by Campbell Tickell, EMA, Asset Skills, Synergy Group and The Hire Standard.