Making a Difference: Building a better repairs service
Working together with customers to shape a repairs service that works better for everyone.
We know that repairs are consistently identified as the service you value the most. So, as we looked to build a better, more responsive service, we knew it had to be a collaboration.
Over the past few years, we did a full top-to-bottom redesign to make sure you have a repairs service that delivers what you need. Throughout, your valuable views and insights have helped shape every step of the journey.
Let’s look back at the journey so far.
The Big Listen
To kick things off, back in summer 2023, we launched our Big Listen campaign to hear directly from you about what really matters in a responsive repairs service.
We gathered feedback from hundreds of you, who raised concerns about wait times, poor communication and jobs not being completed right first-time.
First steps
After what we’d learned during the Big Listen, we created the Homes Intervention project so we could turn your views into real action.
We mapped out every part of our repairs process, identifying what benefited the service you received and, more importantly, what didn’t.
Acting on what we found, we recommended a new way of working, including:
- Homes Hub: A dedicated team with technical expertise to diagnose and plan repairs accurately
- WhatsApp photo and video sharing: Giving you the ability to send images or videos with us in real time
- Extended hours: Reviewing our operating hours to make it easier to contact us and get the service you need, when you need it
- Better scheduling: Making sure we’re allowing our operatives enough time to complete your repairs properly on their first visit
Giving you the floor
While we were taking apart and looking at our repairs service, our Customer Scrutiny Panel carried out its own review.
They looked closely at the full end-to-end repairs process – from repairs being reported to trade operatives completing the work in your homes.
In November 2024, they delivered a report with 40 recommendations aimed at improving our service and benefitting our customers, including:
- Making sure repair requests submitted online are reliably received and processed
- Introducing a simple post-repair feedback system to make sure work has been completed to the standard you expect
- Investing in IT systems and software that improve and support our repairs service
- Creating a more inclusive service model to cater to non-digital customers
- Providing clear information on responsibilities for repairs and maintenance
- All the recommendations in the report were crafted by, and for, customers like you – putting your voice right at the heart of this important service.
The results...
Our repairs service is now stronger and more responsive in many ways, from clearer updates and communication from us to more ways for you to share information and feedback with us.
We’ve been thrilled to see the collaboration pay off. Together, we’ve built a repairs service that reflects what you told us you want to see, and we’re delighted to see customer satisfaction rising.
Key satisfaction measures, such as satisfaction with repairs and satisfaction with time taken to complete most recent repair, continue to improve. We’re also seeing more of you telling us you’re satisfied with One Manchester as a whole.
What comes next
Although it’s fantastic to see your satisfaction with our repair service increase, we know there’s always room to keep improving.
We continue to meet regularly with our customer-led Service Improvement Group and Customer Scrutiny Panel, so you can keep telling us what you want to see and hold us to account when things don’t work as they should.
We’ve also made key changes to our Repairs Portal, including:
- Adding the option to tell us you have multiple repairs and want a call back to discuss them
- Adding an ‘Other’ repairs option for jobs that are more complex than others. Selecting this option will trigger a call back from our contact centre
- Giving you the ability to request an update on a repair you’ve already placed
- Each of these changes happened because you told us you wanted to see them.
Finally, we also introduced our new Repairs Policy. To help you understand what the new policy means for you, at the beginning of the year we sent you a Repairs Handbook. The handbook explains how repairs are handled, how quickly you can expect them to be completed, and who’s responsible for what. It’s designed to guide you through our repairs service, so you know exactly what to expect and how we’ll support you.
We want to hear from you
If you want to help shape the future of our services, you can join one of our panels, groups or committees. Whether you prefer to contribute in person, online or through surveys, your voice could play a key part in what we do going forward.
