“Celebrating our customer focus and the diversity of our communities”
Alan Long has been the Chair of Arches Housing for the last 12 months following a period of shadowing the previous Chair. One thing that is very apparent when speaking to Alan is his passion for the Housing Sector and Arches Housing in particular. Over the years, Alan has worked for Mears, a leading social housing and care provider and he has always focussed on the importance of tenant involvement and ensuring the customer not only has a voice but is also listened too.
Through his role as Chair, Alan is keen to ensure customers are always at the heart of everything Arches does, they are actively involved in community decisions and most importantly of all, they are listened to.
When asked ‘what best describes Arches’ Alan very simply replies “ Our customers and our staff - In a world where technology has distracted many businesses from their primary focus – the customer. I believe Arches has continued to get this interaction right. Whilst we have embraced technology, we have also identified that it can be a barrier to so many of our tenants. Being able to pick up the phone and speak to someone, particularly at a time of need such as with a repair, is really important and we are therefore able to reassure the tenant that we have acknowledged their issue. Our staff team go above and beyond to make sure our tenants are listened too.”
Alan also goes on to talk about the wonderful memories he has from the community days he has attended. Where Arches’ diverse communities come together to celebrate and enjoy themselves. He acknowledges that these events wouldn’t be possible without the staff team at Arches understanding their importance.
We’ve spent a long time ‘getting to know’ our customers, their needs and tailoring our services to meet their requirements. We understand that one approach may not be right for everyone and at Arches our ability to bend and flex services to meet the need of the customer is what really matters. I’m really proud of how our staff teams meet the needs of the customer. We seem to be naturally good at understanding what works for those in our communities.
As Arches reaches its 50th anniversary year, it is time to reflect not only on the journey it has been on, but also to look ahead and plan for the next 50 years. Alan is hugely complementary of the journey the organisation to date by commenting:
“We absolutely recognise the decisions made 50 years ago to set up Arches as still being relevant today. Whether that’s the focus on delivering great customer service or our focus on our communities and celebrating their diversity. It’s fantastic to have hit our 50th anniversary year and as a way to mark this milestone achievement, I am pledging to walk/run/crawl (if needed) past every Arches home in our 50th year. I’ll be raising money for local charities which will inevitably be recycled back into our Arches communities”.
In answer to ‘what does the next 50 years look like for Arches’, Alan replies “Nothing radical, we will continue to drive service improvements for our tenants, we will continue to focus our resources where they are needed the most, whilst continuing to develop partnership working with other community focused groups. Most importantly though, it will always be to ensure that the customer remains at the heart of everything we do”.
07/08/2025 12:00
