Grounds Maintenance Consultancy: Case Study
Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH): An Interview with Dario Leone, Head of Repairs & Environmental Services
At RBH, ensuring the highest standards in grounds maintenance and environmental services is key to their commitment to customer satisfaction. Dario Leone, Head of Repairs & Environmental Services, leads a team of around 300 people who are responsible for repairs, compliance checks, and maintaining the estates. When RBH decided to review their grounds maintenance service, they appointed Thornton & Lowe to support them. The goal was to improve customer satisfaction, achieve value for money, increase efficiency, and ensure that services were future-proof in an ever-changing landscape.
Thornton & Lowe's Social Housing Consultancy Services focus on commercial and operational consultancy, training and support. This includes:
- Estate services reviews
- Value-for-money assessments and benchmarking
- Mentoring
- Procurement
- Insourcing consultancy – setting up a DLO
- Contract management
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Click hereThe Interview
To clearly describe our work with RBH, we asked Dario five key questions. His answers are below:
T&L: Can you tell us a bit about your role at Rochdale Boroughwide Housing and your key responsibilities as Head of the Repairs & Environmental Services team?
Dario: My role is Head of Repairs & Environmental Services, overseeing a team of approximately 300 colleagues who carry out all aspects of repairs and compliance checks to our customers' homes, empty homes, and estates.
T&L: Why was it important for RBH to undertake a review of its grounds maintenance service, and what were you hoping to achieve when you brought Thornton & Lowe on board?
Dario: Traditionally, repairs are the biggest driver of customer satisfaction, followed closely by Environmental Services—largely cleaning and caretaking—so we are working to get these services right for our customers. RBH is conscious of ensuring customers' money is spent in the right way, ensuring value for money, and that we are fit for the future in an ever-evolving world.
T&L: What were some of the key strengths and challenges identified through the review, and how did having an independent, experienced consultancy like Thornton & Lowe influence those insights?
Dario: The review was very detailed and covered all aspects from health and safety, inductions, depots, vehicles, machinery, IT systems, performance, quality, and customer perception. Key strengths identified were colleagues being passionate and coming to work to do a good job for our customers. Challenges highlighted were around our former depot, updates needed to improve service delivery and efficiencies, and some recommendations to ensure we're fit for the future, which we'll continue to work through over the coming 12 months.
T&L: Since the review, what improvements or changes have already been implemented, and what early impacts or results have you observed?
Dario: We have seen fewer complaints in March and April this year for grounds maintenance compared to previous years and received more compliments, which is fantastic to see. We have strengthened our health and safety processes and inductions further and carried out five engagement sessions with customers across the Borough. We're about to work with approximately 15 Estate Inspectors to empower customers and continue to build a culture of continuous improvement within our neighbourhoods.
T&L: What would you say to other Housing Associations considering a similar review, and why would you recommend working with Thornton & Lowe?
Dario:
"Thornton & Lowe’s knowledge and experience shone through and they were a pleasure to work with. They quickly identified service challenges and made realistic recommendations on how the service can evolve for our customers and for the future. They had a strong understanding of what makes a commercially successful service, and how to integrate it into a measurable service improvement plan. Thank you!"
Take a look at another related case study:
Procurement Consultancy Case Study – Grounds Maintenance
