Proof of Concept
How did we end up here, what was the genesis of this site, is it working, have I beaten GreenSquareAccord at their own game, am I even playing their game, is this the future of resident/landlord communications?
In the beginning
April 2019.
This was the first time that I chose to reach out to a higher audience than the customer service desk. Having been ignored and having had issues left unresolved I employed a skill I had acquired from years of needing to bypass gatekeepers, I searched for people within GreenSquare (as it was at that time) who I felt would want to see these issues addressed; in short I applied pressure from above.
Throughout this blog I will provide you with links to emails sent and received which provide background for those of you who want it, and can be skipped by those who don’t. I have PDF’d these emails, with identifying info redacted; data protection should be taken seriously by us all and not dismissed in such a way that might anger other parties and the ICO.
First email sent with senior leaders on copy - 17th April 2019
This email was sent to many of the usual suspects, and sought support on addressing many of the ongoing issues that still plague us to this day.
Some of the usual suspects; Rachel Crownshaw, Julianne Britton, and we mustn’t forget our dear old friend Robin Bailey; I also included many others who have now jumped ship as well as members of Oxford city council, local press and Thames Valley Police (as they were tired of being called out to break-ins enabled by GreenSquare’s lack of response).
The issues; Issue One - Lift Repairs (still ongoing with the same fault for the same lift reported again this week (Feb ‘22)) Issue Two - Major Water Leak (leaks and water damage still being reported) Issue Three - Anti-social behaviour and forced entry (almost completely addressed with adequate doors having been installed this year) Issue Four - Lack of communication and action from Service Desk (as you’ll no doubt know this is still very much ongoing and as the response times have grown and the lack of response have gotten worse (not sure how some senior leaders are able to keep banking that pay cheque whilst actually seeing this deteriorate under their stewardship) and a summary that reminded GreenSquare of their corporate and social responsibilities.
This did stir some conversations and echos around the not so hallowed halls of GreenSquare HQ, Methuen Park. I received calls and emails (most notably from Julianne Britton who remained engaged until the powers that be under the guidance of GreenSquareAccord’s legal team told her to stop). Julianne is a fine example of someone doing their best under mounting pressure, yet unable to provide the service we deserve due to the systemic failings within GreenSquareAccord.
Lines of communication were open
Issues kept being raised and I on behalf of many of my neighbours kept the including people on copy, these people could then apply pressure to see that responses were provided, and efforts were made to address issues.
After many months and many broken promises it became apparent that GreenSquare (and later GreenSquareAccord) were unable to provide an adequate level of service, unable to provide the level of building management as agreed whilst charging residents for this service, and they simply didn’t have robust procedures in place to deal with the tsunami of issues that had rendered them rudderless and lost.
As such I sought further support by crafting this first draft document, which I advised GreenSquare that I would share widely if these issues remained unresolved.
The first draft version, which prompted further panic and broken promises, is too large to share here. If you would like a copy please email me directly.
One of the loudest voices in the room
The threat of airing all this information was the gateway to being invited to a meeting with Ruth Cooke and Rachel Crownshaw, both of whom had largely opted to not get involved until this point.
Promises were again made and broken. They even managed to talk me into joining their Voice of the Customer Panel. for which I duly gave up many hours to further support GreenSquare (who had at this point become GreenSquareAccord) on their journey to becoming ‘simply brilliant’. It was clear fairly quickly (to me at least) that this panel was at best a tickbox exercise and at worst a tool to contain and silence some of GreenSquareAccord’s more vocal residents. It became very clear that it wasn't supporting myself and my neighbours with our issues. Don’t worry dear reader I would soon be sacked from this volunteer role for threatening to breach a contact I hadn’t seen, hadn’t signed and never received.
Too loud for the room
Now we jump forward in time without the aid of a harp or TV flashback effects.
Email sent to Rachel Crownshaw and some of the usual suspects on 27th July 2021
Again, this mentioned the same ongoing issues and a load more besides. Noteworthily the issue that seemed to cause the most concern to GreenSquareAccord was ‘and the countless other examples I’ll need to compile in order to give a fair and accurate portrayal of this woeful and continued poor behaviour (and of course all the juicy little tit-bits I’ve discovered through the customer panel.’
Out of the 952 words these words were actually mentioned in the email in which GreenSquareAccord closed the lines of communicants.
Email sacking me from Customer Panel
…it is clear you have not met the competences set out in the job description you were given.
Louise Pettinger
Chair of the Customer Panel
Now let’s be honest I superseded the required competencies. The point at which this became clear to me was when I had to educate one of GreenSquareAccord’s team who was trying to build a simple credo but didn’t understand the meaning of two of the words they were hoping to incorporate. Typically, they had heard the words in passing or read them on a LinkedIn post; they sound ‘smart and catchy’ they therefore must be included in the new credo, but had no understanding of what these words actually meant.
If GreenSquareAccord were serious about the voice of the customer perhaps they would have given the chair of the customer panel an official GreenSquareAccord email address rather than have her use a Hotmail account.
I digress. GreenSquareAccord certainly had the ‘ducks in a row’ this day as I quickly received the following form Claire Cook (who was at the time Leasehold and Service Charge Manager, however I suspect this was a largely superficial role as the senior leadership seemed to be underwhelmed by her abilities).
Or did it?
In August 2021 I created this website; started to publish the ongoing issues, reached outside of GreenSquareAccord, found other residents suffering the same issues, gained interest and insights from sector leaders, MPs, health and safety providers, and using social media I was able to land my message firmly (and literally) in the palms of GreenSquareAccords hands.
The loudest voice was now even louder.
Proof of concept
The site gained it’s audience (about 3 months in) and I had created social media accounts (and back-up account for when GreenSquareAccord were able to close accounts) however I knew it was making an impact when GreenSquareAccord asked me to take it down. When I refused GreenSquareAccord threatened me with legal action and I received a letter from their legal team. You know you’re making an impact when they either start shooting at you or threatening you with legal action.
When this threat was ignored (I’ve stood up to bigger bullies) we started to see a positive impact, GreenSquareAccord started to resolve issues!
We have seen efforts being made to address the following:
Now this action might have something to do with the investigation by the Housing Ombudsman who have now offered a revised timeframe for the end of April 2022, but have received a full response from GreenSquareAccord.
We have also received an invite to a virtual meeting!
Of course there are items that’ll need adding to the agenda and we will update GreenSquareAccord of these further points in accordance with the invite.
This invite followed a little Twitter pressure, an online reminder that GreenSquareAccord had agreed to maintain meetings (and whilst lockdown was an issue virtual meetings were currently very much ‘in vogue’).
The future of resident and landlord communications
I think it might be. It’s true GreenSquareAccord are afraid of anything that might negatively affect their brand; this isn’t rocket science, their future careers, ability to fund new homes, and their own personal reputations are now online. If you don’t believe me go to Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook at search for GreenSquareAccord or Ruth Cooke - hashtags work!
So far, I have been approached by three groups looking to develop a system that closely aligns landlords with their residents, portals that publicly share the true state of housing associations stock. I’m not going to mention their names as I don’t want my involvement to become a barrier to service. Some are further along in development than others, but it’s clear the days of ignoring residents and their issues are over.
The sad truth
Of course as much as I like to take some of this credit the truth is more disturbing.
The investigation into the systemic failures at Grenfell Tower have highlighted serious issues across the sector. It is clear that the entire housing sector is rife with issues, and yet many of these associations continue to ignore their residents. However the housing sector is now very much under scrutiny and several resident movements have started.
Some associations will step up to the mark, others will go under leaving residents at risk, and some will become ‘simply brilliant’ and take the lead before government oversight forces them to.
In conclusion
I’ll keep sharing the issues and updates whilst keeping my eye on GreenSquareAccord. I’ve circumvented their communication ban and found a far more productive method to contact the senior leadership team, a method that is helping to drive results.
And to all those senior leaders at GreenSquareAccord who are reading this on their phone…
