Welsh housing association, ateb Group, has appointed IT support provider, Central Networks, to support its in-house IT department – seeing the firm provide an outsourced help desk function and strategic consultancy.
Central is managing the social housing provider’s help desk for its 130-strong workforce – receiving circa 1,200 IT requests per year – enabling its digital team to focus on the tactical future of its technology estate.
When commenting on the rationale behind the partnership, Alex Jenkins, executive director for finance at ateb Group, said: “Against a backdrop of IT-resource challenges and economic uncertainty following the Covid-19 pandemic, we knew we needed to further bolster the support offered by our IT department.
“Working with Central means we have complete peace of mind that the daily tickets are being resolved, affording our head of digital systems the time and headspace to focus on the more strategic activities.”
The contract covers first, second, and third-line support services, encompassing everything from general help desk support – troubleshooting and solving users’ tech issues – through to device management and tactical decision-making.
John Blackburn, operations director and social housing specialist at Central, added: “We’re seeing many of our social housing clients requesting outsourced help desk support – as a way to reduce overheads and maximise internal resource.
“We know flexibility is vital too, so it’s available as short-term cover or a permanent part of the contract – bespoke to each organisation’s needs at any given time.”
“The Central team is a great sounding board and critical friend for us here at ateb,” concluded Alex.
“From penetration testing to cloud migration, they advise our digital team on key technology decisions, and also support our recruitment process with interview participation. They are a trusted pair of hands and go above and beyond to ensure we’re getting the most from our investments.”
Central has over 30 years’ experience within the IT and housing sectors – working with providers across the country, including Bron Afon, Eastlight Community Homes, Horton Housing, and Ongo Homes, to name a few.
Established following the merger of two housing associations — City South and Eastlands Homes — the newly-formed One Manchester found itself with a complex network of connectivity solutions, which were not only inefficient but unnecessarily expensive.
Central provides Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBA) - the UK’s first tenant and employee co-owned mutual housing society, with approximately 13,000 properties - with tighter security infrastructure and a robust recovery plan.
Central provides The Sovini Group – a medium-sized registered social landlord with 13,000 homes – with evolved IT infrastructure and a new data centre home.
Central provides The Regenda Group – a medium-sized Registered Social Housing Provider (RSHP) with 13,000 homes – with multi-level support.
IT specialist Central has been shortlisted for a prestigious housing award for its partnership work with Horton Housing, enabling residents to access WiFi for free during the pandemic.
Central, which is marking 30 years in business this year, has reached the final of the ‘Working in Partnership’ category of the Chartered Institute of Housing’s Northern Awards – a scheme that celebrates excellence across the region’s housing sector.
The impact of Covid-19 has further cemented Greater-Manchester-based Central’s drive to support and use its expertise to give something back to its Northern housing partners. This included working collaboratively with Horton Housing to deliver free WiFi access across its sites – providing residents with online connectivity and enabling them to have a vital support line during one of the most difficult periods in living memory.
Central donated the WiFi hardware required for the implementation and carried out the installation free of charge for Horton Housing’s first pilot site, as well as volunteering ongoing support and maintenance of the access points.
Jo Berry, Central’s co-owner, said: “Our team is really proud to be shortlisted for this prestigious award for our work with Horton Housing. We are committed to making a difference and strive to always go that extra mile for our housing customers.
“As an IT business, we feel we have a corporate social responsibility to ensure that everyone has an internet connection to access crucial online services. We are pleased that our partnership with Horton Housing has enabled this for its residents when they needed it the most.”
Paul Gartland, CEO of Horton Housing, added: “Gaining access to WiFi has been massive for us – Central hasn’t left us out in the cold to get on with things during the pandemic, instead they’ve gone above and beyond, taking more of a partnership approach, which we’re building to our mutual benefit.”
Since its inception in 1991, more than 70% of Central’s 2,000-strong client base have been non-profit organisations in the housing sector, having partnered with customers such as Bron Afon, SOHA, and Horton Housing.
The winners of the Chartered Institute of Housing’s Northern Awards will be announced at a ceremony in Gateshead on November 18.
Heywood-based IT solutions provider, Central, has been appointed by Brighter Futures Housing Association as the firm’s dedicated technology partner for the next three years – after winning a private tender.
Brighter Futures is a Staffordshire-headquartered support service and accommodation provider for people living with mental health, homelessness, and other complex needs, and the firm sought an IT partner that could help to streamline its tech infrastructure.
As part of the project, Central will be providing a holistic solution that includes first, second, and third-line support for the housing association’s 230-strong workforce. The tech company’s team of engineers will be delivering a managed IT service, including endpoint and patch management, capacity and availability monitoring, plus regular service and maintenance reviews.
Commenting on the new contract, Central’s client director, Mike Dunleavy, said: “It’s exciting to be working with Brighter Futures as its trusted tech partner – driving the site’s tech infrastructure forward and helping it to plan for the future, through long-term IT strategy delivery.
“We have over 20 years’ experience within the housing sector – and 30 within the wider industry – and have worked with hundreds of customers in this realm, so we know our expertise and knowledge of industry trends will be mutually beneficial in this partnership.”
Paul Richards, interim head of contracts and procurement at Brighter Futures, added: “The crucial social and community work we carry out relies on us being able to be online 24/7, because without the right fast-functioning technology, we can’t help the vulnerable people who need our support.
“We chose Central not only because their tender was the most professional, but because having seen their wider work in the housing sector, we knew they would understand how to assess our IT infrastructure requirements. We’re excited at what the future holds.”
Central’s IT engineers are currently working behind the scenes to build up a picture of Brighter Future’s tech stack and digital infrastructure, with the project officially due to kick off mid-August.
The Heywood company currently counts Horton Housing, Women in Social Housing, and Bron Afon among its client roster.
We’re specialists in the housing sector, which is why Central was well placed to partner with WISH to deliver its digital transformation project. Read more about how we supported the CIC, in our press release below:
Women in Social Housing (WISH) has strengthened its existing IT infrastructure, thanks to its partnership agreement with IT-services provider, Central Networks and Technologies (Central).
The IT company – which has decades of experience working within the housing sector – has donated implementation and project time to the not-for-profit organisation, to deploy Office 365 software for WISH’s geographically diverse workforce and team of volunteers, as well as support and bolster new internal IT policies surrounding data protection, retention, and acceptable use.
Commenting on the partnership, WISH’s managing director, Helen Greig said: “We’re really excited to be working with Central on our digital transformation programme. It’s wonderful to partner with an organisation that not only has the IT knowledge but one that understands the social housing sector, and whose values are so closely aligned with our own.”
WISH is a membership-based network for women across every discipline of the UK housing sector and each of its regions is run by a volunteer board, which devise networking and personal and professional development events to help women share their knowledge and experiences and inspire one another in their careers.
“As a community interest company (CIC), we don’t have an unlimited amount of spend for IT,” continued Helen, “Receiving this project time free of charge is a massive help for us, as it means we can get the upgraded systems we need and use our budget to continue running our planned events and activities as cost-effectively as possible for our valued members.”
"As a co-chair of WISH North West, I see first-hand how amazing these events are for bringing women across the sector together and building meaningful relationships with other like-minded ladies.
“It’s great to be working with the CIC to help streamline its tech operations and achieve its security objectives, so that the money it has can continue to be invested in growing its calendar of events which champion positive and beneficial outcomes for all women.”
- Nicola Brown, sales director at Central
The 30-year-old IT firm already has a strong presence in the social housing sector, with more than 70% of its 2,000-strong client base being non-profit organisations in this arena – having collaborated with clients such as Bron Afon, SOHA, and Horton Housing, to name a few.
WISH has over 500 members – spanning 10 regions across the UK – and has a commitment to championing women within the UK housing sector, including attracting new talent and supporting their career progression.
With a rich heritage in the housing sector, the team at Central have a range of expertise to be able to deliver for new client, Horton Housing.
Read all about the appointment, in our press release below:
We are delighted to announce that Central has secured a three-year IT support contract with housing support services provider, Horton Housing.
The six-figure deal will see the Central team provide Horton Housing with a comprehensive, flexible support package that includes implementing and managing the move to Office 365, backup and disaster recovery and service desk support as part of Horton Housing’s three-year IT strategy that aims to make significant improvements to support its staff, clients and volunteers.
Horton Housing manages more than 30 different housing, training and support services across Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees and North Yorkshire. It provides specialist support and quality accommodation for the most vulnerable in society including people who are homeless or people suffering from mental health conditions.
As part of its strategy, Horton Housing wanted to adopt better ways of working remotely without affecting its tenants. Central recommended that Horton move to Office 365 so that it could utilise incorporated tools such as PowerApps and MS Teams to allow for effective communication and collaboration across the business.
Mark Spencer, Head of IT at Horton Housing commented: “Central outlined an approach which met the needs of our ongoing IT strategy and during the short time we have been working with them, they have delivered what was promised. As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, they helped Horton Housing to speed up the transition to remote working, deploying MS Teams across the workforce to ensure we could continue to deliver the high levels of service our clients expect. I am confident that Central’s personal and collaborative approach will enable us to deliver on our future ambitions.”
"We are delighted to be working with Horton Housing. There is no doubt that remote working is a rising trend and COVID-19 has certainly contributed to its acceleration in recent months. We are seeing more businesses and organisations consider ways to improve communication and streamline operations so that employees can have the flexibility to work from home if they choose to do so.”
- John Blackburn, operations director at Central
