HOMES
Harbour Homes commissioned MainStreet to research, cost and recommend the most suitable organisational vehicle and structures enabling the Association to deliver on place-making and shaping activities within Leith and North Edinburgh.
Our work included a series of consultations with key stakeholders on priority activities for the new vehicle, a detailed options appraisal of different potential structures, and a five-year business plan to show that the subsidiary is financially sustainable. Our recommendation was approved by the Harbour Homes board, and the new organisation – Quay Community Improvements – was set up in October 2016.
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“We were delighted with MainStreet’s work in making our Place Making Vehicle project happen. They engaged well with staff, Board members, tenant representatives and our partner organisations in what is very a complex environment and a potentially difficult initiative. Their subsequent work on our Business Viability Assessment has given us a solid foundation for the new organisation that we will launch in 2016.”
Claire Ironside
Director of Customer Services
MainStreet Consulting was commissioned by Kingdom Housing Association (KHA) to provide an impartial and objective assessment of its Support & Care Service. Over the past few years, this service has faced several sector pressures including increasing costs and flat revenues, questioning the viability of the service.
Following our detailed situation review, the KHA Board approved a detailed options appraisal to identify and assess the best future option for the service. Given the specific KHA circumstances, a Community Interest Company (CIC) was the preferred option and we then developed a detailed 15 year financial model to support a business plan for the service to operate as a stand alone subsidiary of KHA. The business plan was approved by the KHA Board and is now being implemented with a functioning subsidiary delivering the service on behalf of KHA.
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“We would be happy to work with MainStreet Consulting again, and have no hesitation in recommending the company to other Housing Associations.”
Norah Smith
Director of Housing and Care
Kingdom Housing Association
Govan Housing Association required our support to assess Govan Home, their in-house labour organisation, and their factoring service. For both services, we undertook an extensive set of interviews, desktop research and identification of good practice. This work was necessary to assess the current situation and the possible options for service development that the Association could consider.
Following an options appraisal with Govan’s Senior Management Team, we created a financial model for the Govan Home service and wrote a 5 year business plan for it to operate as a stand alone subsidiary as part of a new Govan Housing Association. The factoring service will be retained in the Association, and MainStreet is currently developing a comprehensive internal transformation plan.
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“We are delighted with the results for the HOME Team and really looking forward to taking forward all of the work necessary to make it a great success for the staff team and the wider community. Thanks for all of your input and work on this project over the last 6 months or so, it is very much appreciated and it has been a pleasure working with yourself and your colleagues”
Natalya Macholla
Deputy Chief Executive Officer
The Caledonia Group (CG) is made up of Caledonia, Bellsmyre and Cordale Housing Associations and is one of Scotland’s leading providers of high quality affordable homes for people in housing need.
MainStreet Consulting was invited to provide an objective and critical analysis of CG’s non-core services to enable the organisation to redesign the way it delivers these services to ensure they are effectively governed, are financially sustainable in the long term and can demonstrate value for money for tenants and customers.
The nine CG’s non-core services included Factoring, Home Help, Home Help Cleaning, Sheltered/Very Sheltered Housing, Housing with Care, Estates, and Care and Repair.
As well as a comprehensive review of all services, we also facilitated a session with the three housing association boards and the tenants scrutiny panel to identify the most important strategic objectives for the non-core service portfolio. We also developed a financial model that established the future sustainability of the services and highlighted recommended actions: two services needed significant restructuring, three needed process improvement work and one should be divested.
CG is now progressing with the implementation of our recommendations.
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“MainStreet added real value to our organisation restructure project and subsequent transformation activities. Their support has meant we can now move ahead with a clear direction.”
Gill Donoghue
Head of Support Services
Caledonia Housing Association
Castle Rock Edinvar (CRE) appointed MainStreet to undertake a strategic review of its Care & Support service, which provided a range of support services to circa 500 individuals and employed 190 FTE. This work included an objective analysis of the current operating environment, (future demand, potential to retain services, funding, key risks and pressures on the sector), widespread stakeholder consultation on the fit of the service within the large Places for People (PfP) Group, and consideration of alternative business models for future delivery of the service.
An important part of our work was benchmarking the cost profile of the service against its peers to identify that value for money was not being achieved in the current model. After completion of the work, the PfP Group board agreed to the service becoming independent and we were re-engaged to support it in its divestment process. The standalone organisation, WithYou, went live in April 2018.
Over recent years, MHA had gone through a secondary stage transfer, trebling in its size. This has led to a significant focus on operational performance.
New legislation in the form of the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 came into effect in 2016 and the Association wanted to ensure that it compiled with the new duties that were to be placed on contracting authorities.
Our review included interviewing key MHA staff, assessing key procurement policies, procedures and documents, benchmarking of performance against MHA’s peer associations, and development of new compliant procurement documentation. We made recommendations on a wide range of procurement related matters including the use of frameworks, partnering, e-procurement, Board involvement in procurement, and community benefits.
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“MainStreet was appointed by MHA to carry out a review of Procurement policy and practice across the organisation. The project was delivered on time and within budget. As a result of MainStreet’s high quality work we have assurance that, going forward, procurement activity will be compliant, effective and provide value for money for our customers.”
Donna Birrell
Director of Property & Investment
Maryhill Housing Association
Dumfries & Galloway Housing Partnership (DGHP) invited Addleshaw Goddard and MainStreet Consulting to review its factoring service which was a cause for concern for senior management team who believed it was inconsistent in its approach, was not being run commercially, had ineffective processes and systems, did not occupy a natural position within the organisation’s structure, and was loss making. Our review focused on how the operational risk to DGHP could be mitigated, and identification of the actions necessary to operate the service in a commercially sustainable manner.
We undertook desktop research of DGHP documents, business plans, policies and accounts, interviewed key staff (SMT, factoring, technical team, investment, housing management, and finance) and stakeholders (tenants, owners and others), identified the service’s overarching aims and objectives, undertook a seven S analysis, a SWOT analysis and a PESTLE analysis. Following this we developed a report and a transformation plan, which were shared with the project sponsor, SMT and Board.
GHA and Central Govan Action Plan commissioned MainStreet to develop a commercial viability assessment of Govan HA’s new development at Water Row, a £50m project that would deliver 200 MMR homes and 3500sqm of commercial space in central Govan. This is a strategic site, which along with the planned Partick Govan footbridge across the River Clyde, has significant transformational potential for economic and social regeneration within the Govan area.
Our work included:
- An assessment of the existing situation including the operating environment and the current commercial operations locally
- Significant stakeholder engagement (liaising with 50+ stakeholders and organisations, representing thousands of people) to explore what could and should best be delivered on that site for the benefit of local communities
- A detailed SWOT and PESTLE analysis for the development
- Identification and research of possible uses for the commercial spaces, and an options appraisal of the 16 shortlisted uses against six different criteria to establish a ranked list of options
- An options appraisal of the best possible organisational structure (eg. CIC, Limited Company, Development Trust) for future governance of the development
- A financial model showing cash flows over thirty years with risk based sensitivity scenarios that highlighted the viability of the MMR development and the development gap for the commercial spaces
- Two detailed commercial viability assessments of the MMR development and the commercial spaces including the benefits, governance, legal, regulatory considerations, risks, and delivery planning.
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“MainStreet were very professional and well organised. Always flexible, willing to adapt and fast to come back to us: they challenged us in a very determined and helpful way. Always a pleasure to work with them again; top marks from us – 10/10.”
Fiona McTaggart
CEO
Govan HA
Officers at Cairn Housing Association asked MainStreet for support to undertake specific pieces of research. The first project included an options appraisal of their retirement facility, Frank Jack Court, in Peterhead. Our work included an assessment of the potential alternative uses and the case for re-development, possible alternative provision locally, identification of the local authority’s opinion of the facility, the facility’s financial performance, transport links, and proximity to Cairn’s offices, operations team and maintenance staff. Our short report was well received by Cairn, who are implementing the recommendations.
The second project related to the potential strategic partnership with Pentland HA: Cairn needed to be convinced that a business case existed for the partnership and wanted support to investigate demographic and economic information relating to housing demand in Caithness.
Our work included an assessment of the Caithness housing market, the supply and demand of affordable homes, private homes and private rented accommodation, and it recommended a series of next steps for Cairn to take to validate before the transaction.
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“We were really pleased with the support we received from MainStreet Consulting in pulling this together to help inform our decision-making”.
Meg Deasley, Interim Head of Property, Cairn HA
SVR commissioned MainStreet Consulting to review its facility for homeless veterans at Bellrock Close, Glasgow. The review was required to provide an independent assessment of the effectiveness and efficiency of the present service, including staff.
The review included benchmarking the facility (based on KPIs and financial costs) against SVR’s other units and its Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) peer group, assessing its success in achieving its objectives, identifying key issues, assessing compliance (regulatory and internally), understanding how well it met the needs of residents, and outlining other potential funding options.
Undertaken during the Covid-19 pandemic, our work included interviews with 23 SVR staff, residents, board members and partner organisations. We also developed an Excel model that aggregated all SVR’s KPI and financial information allowing us to develop evidence for comparative performance.
Our final report, presented to the SVR board in late 2020, made 30 prioritised recommendations, which SVR has started to implement.
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‘The project and the report to board has given us confidence to press ahead with an action plan to implement MainStreet’s recommendations. Although the assignment focused on one of our facilities, it has given us some thoughts about how the others work, and might work better.’
Martin Nadin OBE, Chief Executive Scottish Veterans Residences
RSHA is a relatively small RSL operating in a large mainly ‘accessible rural’ geography. A self assessment against the SHR regulatory standards concluded that the association was substantially compliant but three areas required some improvements. These were the development of a strategic plan for the group, conducting an options appraisal of Venachar, its property management subsidiary, and reviewing risk management.
After a competitive tender, MainStreet was appointed to support these tasks. Over several months we supported RSHA conducting the following tasks:
Venachar options appraisal – after desktop analysis of existing Venachar documentation, we interviewed various RSHA staff and board members, undertook SWOT and PESTLE analyses, and developed an options appraisal tool that included weighted criteria against which to assess the options. Following this, the board decided to ‘park’ the Venachar subsidiary.
Group Strategy – we facilitated the RSHA Group strategy day, working with the board to develop a list of strategic priorities that would be reflected in the new Group strategy. We then worked with the board to develop a new three-year RSHA Group Strategy, which was approved by the Board and has now been published. In addition to this work, we also assessed the Group’s governance structure and arrangements, and made recommendations for improvement based on a new governance framework.
Risk – we worked with RSHA’s Senior Management Team (SMT) to introduce a new risk management system. This included writing a new risk management policy, working with the board to define the level of risk appetite, reviewing current risks and transferring to a new risk register format. Finally, the new risk management structure was presented to the board for approval.
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‘Following our self-assessment against SHR’s regulatory standards, MainStreet helped us make improvements in our strategic planning, governance and risk management, and worked with us on an options appraisal to determine the best way forward with our subsidiary’.
Donna Birrell, Chief Executive Rural Stirling Housing Association
In 2018, MainStreet managed a procurement on behalf of Almond HA to secure two service contracts, one for Tenancy Sustainment Services and the other for Welfare Rights & Budgeting Services.
Almond believed that these services were of increasing importance to their tenants as the full effects of Welfare Benefit Reform (and especially Universal Credit) become clearer.
Working with Almond staff, we undertook several tasks including:
- Development of the scope of services
- Splitting the procurement into two lots and creating all the necessary documentation including ITTs, ESPDs, scoring template
- Published the tender information on the PCS website
- Managed clarifications and questions and answers from potential suppliers
- Facilitated scoring of the tenders with Almond HA officers
- Wrote a final recommendation paper for the Board of Management
- Debriefed unsuccessful suppliers.
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‘Mark and the team at Main Street Consulting were a great support to us, working to ensure that they really understood the business and our specific needs. They engaged well with staff at all levels throughout the project – top marks!’
Angela Coutts, Head of Corporate Services, Almond Housing Association
The Manor Estates (ME) factoring service has undergone much change over the last few years and the Association asked MainStreet to review how well the service was functioning generally and specifically whether it was meeting the requirements of the Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011 Code of Conduct (CoC) for factors, which became effective in August 2021.
Our work had 12 different tasks:
- Review Factoring Service delivery mechanisms
- Review Policies and Procedures and suggest improvements
- Review notification after non payment including method to take legal action
- Review authority for debt to be on-charged to owner and to all factoring customers
- Review charging structure, management fees and late payment charges in line with revised Code of Conduct
- Outline a method for Manor Estates to present and declare interest as homeowners
- Review methods to end arrangement for all four of ME’s factoring service types, publish a revised procedure and create a web page article
- Review ME’s web page for full coverage of requirements of the revised Code of Conduct
- Review the insurance charging structure and method to declare benefit, if any, write web page article
- Review requirement for owners regarding lodging insurance claims, prepare procedure and web page article
- Review ME’s custom & practice appointment and deliver opinion on formalising the appointment, including outlining consultation method and timeframe
- Review mechanism to adjust billing cycle for flat owners not in full factoring service and outline consultation method, time frame and information
Our work culminated in a report with a prioritised set of actions and a presentation to ME’s Senior Management Team and factoring staff.
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MainStreet completed a high level Review of our Factoring Services, covering how well the service meets the requirements of the Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011 Code of Conduct (2021). They delivered prioritised actions, assisted with information notes, adjustments to policies and procedures, and enhancing our owner publications. They were happy to work with all levels of our Factoring staff team and provided focussed feedback in a format the whole team could step in and action.
Amanda Hay, Property Services Director, Manor Estates Housing Association
For Grampian, we undertook a three-stage project:
- Current situation review of how asset management was done with an emphasis on TLC, their in house kitchens and bathrooms installation subsidiary. We reviewed various strategies, plans and policies, interviewed 18 staff and board members, and benchmarked the Grampian’s performance against its peers using SHR data. We presented our findings to the leadership team.
- We then developed an options appraisal tool with appropriate assessment criteria and weightings. Working with staff and a board representative, we facilitated their assessment of five potential options for future delivery of asset management in Grampian. The preferred option was the internal transformation of the Asset Management service and TLC’s active expansion.
- The final part of our work was to create a draft transformation plan to guide the Association’s work over the next two years.
We presented our work to the TLC Board and the Grampian Board with all our recommendations being accepted.
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Responsive, accommodating and flexible, Mark produced a very good report with every recommendation accepted by the board. Mark had a methodical approach, was unafraid to challenge by offering alternative views and communicated well, always appreciative of the sensitivities for some stakeholders. Overall, a fantastic piece of work.
Diane Hendry, Interim Operations Director, Grampian Housing Association