Welcome

Thank you for your interest in bpha and this exciting new role. We think we have a compelling story to tell, and you could be the best person to help us tell it to a bigger audience.

bpha is a successful organisation. It holds the Regulator of Social Housing’s (RSH) highest ratings for Governance and Financial Viability (G1, V1) and has an impressive record of achievement for customer service delivery, the quality of its homes and the scale and ambition of its development programme. We own or manage more than 19,000 homes with the majority located within the Oxford-Cambridge Arc – a Government nominated area of strategic growth.

However, we need to take a different approach in telling people about this success. This isn’t for the sake of our own self appreciation, but so that we can build upon our success by forming partnerships to help our customers and the community as a whole. We think there are more services we could deliver ourselves, or help others to deliver, that would have a real, tangible impact on the lives of people around the Oxford Cambridge Arc (OCA).

To do this we need a pro-active engagement strategy delivering clear messages designed to build and support our brand in order to open up further potential for partnership working and to ensure that we are central to discussions in our region about housing and homes, communities and the needs of the people that live in them and how our services should be delivered.

This approach to communications is a core part of our new Corporate Strategy 2025/30. The strategy looks to imagine the economic, environmental and social challenges that will emerge as the decade progresses and sets out how bpha intends to answer the future needs and hopes of its customers. Our vision is bold and ambitious and provides the direction for the organisation to take its next big step forward.

My background before becoming bpha’s CEO 6 years ago was not social housing but having ‘discovered’ the sector, I found a new purpose. The Director of External Affairs role is not about shareholder value, it is about changing lives and making a real difference to ordinary people living in streets, neighbourhoods and communities. Excellent commercial and people skills are vital because what we do is not easy. However, doing it well brings a reward and satisfaction that I had not previously experienced within my ‘commercial life’.

This is not to say our terms and conditions are not attractive, they are, but this is not just about money.

We hope you find the information in this pack is useful. If you want a role where you can drive changes in reputation and brand to create a real, meaningful impact on people’s lives, then this could be your perfect job, and we’d love to hear from you.

Best wishes,
Kevin Bolt – CEO