April Retter

Position: Gas Planner

Location: London Borough of Redbridge, London

My Story:

I have been with Morrison for just over two years and I am responsible for booking gas servicing appointments.  I also make sure that the appointments are attended on time and completed appropriately.  Making sure all my tasks are done in the day is really important to me and I never leave before my   in-tray is clear!

One of the most enjoyable parts of working at Morrison is the team spirit and how all the operations and office staff work together to ensure everything runs smoothly.  Sometimes there is a lot to do and working together as a team certainly makes it easier.

Tim Jones

Position: Apprentice Plumber

Location: Liverpool

My Story:

My role at Morrison is as an apprentice plumber and I have been with the company for 15 months. My day involves meeting a lot of Riverside’s tenants and helping them resolve their plumbing issues. These can range from fixing a dripping tap to changing a bath. Every day is different and no one job is ever the same, which is what I love about the job. If tenants have any other issues or problems we always try and help the best we can.

What is most important to me when I am at work is the customers’ happiness. If I do my job properly and get good feedback from tenants it means we are all doing our jobs correctly and that they are satisfied with the work we have carried out.

Rob Astell

Position: Administrative Assistant

Location: Liverpool

My Story:

I am an admin assistant on the Liverpool contract, my role is quite varied but a lot of the time I am helping out the finance department and processing subcontractor’s spreadsheet and assisting in completing the monthly payroll. I also work with the voids team and assist with reviewing the opti-time day to day tickets.

I thoroughly enjoy the variety and different opportunities I get working at Morrison. Since I joined the company two years ago I have never been limited to only one role, which has enabled me to further myself.

I really like the team in our office; everyone helps out and chips in when they need which creates a strong sense of teamwork, which is important to me in my job.

Kelly Welch

Position: Resident Liaison Officer

Location: Nottingham

My Story:

I am a Resident Liaison Officer for Morrison on our Gedling Homes contract and my role involves working closely with all our customers, clients and residents to an deliver excellent customer experience.  I really love my job and caring for our customers, our team and local communities is something that I am very passionate about.

As my job is really varied and involves talking to people all the time it’s really important that I have excellent people and customer service skills.  I have a bubbly personality, which really helps to make people feel at ease but also means I am seen as approachable if something is not working right.  It’s also really important to be good at listening as our customers and residents in the local community are the real people to tell us when things are going right.

Nadir Benaissa

Position: Multi-trade plumber

Location: London

My Story:

Although I have only worked for Morrison for four months, having TUPE’d into the company when it took on the contract from the council, I love my job as it gives me great satisfaction to do a job well.

Safety is really important when I am working in homes, as I need to make sure I am working safely to protect tenants and myself. By working in this way I can make sure I leave the property in a good condition and that jobs are fixed first time.

The flexibility of being a multi-skilled trades means I can do a lot of different jobs and I am now looking to further my training and learn how to be a locksmiths and an electrician. I see this as being really beneficial to my future development.

John Hughes

Position: Carpenter

Location: London

My Story:

I am a trained carpenter and have worked for Morrison for five years; I mainly work on the voids team doing any carpentry repairs. I also install kitchen and bathrooms, alongside my colleagues on the team.

Working in void properties means we have to work quite closely to make sure we are able to meet our tight timescales and turn properties round so they can be let to new tenants. This can make the job quite pressured but because we all work well as a team, we are able to ensure we are successful at meeting our deadlines.

This job is very much about being a team player and one of the things I enjoy most about my job is the camaraderie within the team; we have a good laugh and a joke which makes a real difference to our working day.

John Currington

Position: Supervisor

Location: London

My Story:

I have worked for Morrison since 2004 as a Supervisor for non-housing works, as well as out of hours call outs for day to day and emergency calls. My team consists of 11 operatives including plumbers, carpenters, drainage gangs and handymen.

I originally started out as a carpenter and have 30 years experience, which I believe gives me a really good understand about the kind of work my guys are undertaking and the pressures and experiences they face in their day jobs.

Nikki Farrugia

Position: Apprentice Plumber

Location: South East

My Story:

Being an apprentice means I go to college for one day a week and spend four days with a qualified plumber carrying out repairs in tenants’ homes. I really enjoy being an apprentice at Morrison, I get lots of opportunity to be hands on and learn how to do different jobs. The plumbers I work with are very knowledgeable and are really helping me to develop my skills.

Morrison appealed to me as a company because of the opportunities to continue training and developing throughout my career and the equal opportunities offered by the company.

Working in tenants’ homes and alongside other colleagues’ means good communication skills, patience and flexibility are all essential qualities, as well as the ability to keep to a deadline as you need to keep to your appointment times.

Graham Phillips

Position: Plumber

Location: Redbridge

My Story:

I have been with Morrison for the past 5 years and joined via TUPE transfer. I currently work on voids properties for the Redbridge team, where I help maintain and refurbish rooms in empty homes such as kitchens and bathrooms.

I think having a good work ethic is a really important quality to have when you are doing a job like mine, as you always have to make sure you can deliver a great service within the set timescales of the job to meet all your KPI’s. I always try and put safety first when I’m working, so make sure I prepare for each job by having the right equipment and keeping alert.

Ian Fuller

Position: Plumber

Location: Thurrock

My Story:

I have recently joined Morrison as a plumber on repairs and maintenance responding to emergency appointments.  One of the most important parts of my role is to make sure that our customers and I are safe at all times and this means keeping everything tidy and free from any immediate dangers.  Its important for everyone to remember that they are working in someone’s home and so making sure tenant’s are happy with the work I have done is what I want to achieve every time!

I thoroughly enjoy working for Morrison and I just love my new van!  I was really chuffed to get the job at Morrison as I have already had lots of opportunities to develop my skills and attending really useful and interesting training course.

Paul Fowler

Position: Voids Manager

Location: Essex

My Story:

As a Voids Manager my job consists of running all the voids and the operatives that work on them. This involves ensuring we know which voids are coming up and that the right resources are in place to complete the work.

In addition, I also run the Thurrock Trade School for 14 – 16 year olds for Morrison, this school provides children from the local area with the opportunity to learn trade skills from qualified tradesmen.

Having TUPE’d over to Morrison about 6 months ago, I really like the friendly atmosphere in the contract and the good working environment which has been created.

The thing I enjoy most about my job is the challenge that it brings, there is never a dull moment and this really motivates me to do my job to the best of my abilities.

Tony Strange

Position: Plumber

Location: London

My Story:

I TUPE’d over to Morrison from the council six years ago and cover all the day to day emergencies and R1 jobs which have to be completed within 24 hours. I also look after non housing work, which involves working in schools and public buildings.

On a daily basis I will carryout a wide range of plumbing repairs including burst pipes, renewing water tanks, fixing toilets and taps and sometimes unblocking drains.

I think it’s really important to be able to communicate well in my job, as sometimes you have to deal with a difficult situation and you need to have the ability to diffuse these quickly.

Philip Speechley

Position: Carpenter/ Multi trade

Location: London

My Story:

I work on the voids team, doing a wide variety of trades including carpentry, plumbing, plastering and painting to name a few. Over the last year I have been working as a locksmith, changing the locks when properties become empty. I also inspect our sub-contractors work, checking that health and safety standards are being met and that jobs are completed on time and properly.

One of the most important aspects of my job is to get the locks changed quickly so workmen and inspectors can get into properties and begin work. There is always a need for homes so it’s important that properties are turned around ready for new tenants to move in.

Being a multi-skilled tradesman means I need to be able to turn my hand to a wide variety of work and I really enjoy the variety this brings both to the jobs I get given and in terms of working in lots of different places.

Joanne Nickerson

Position: Resident Liaison Manager

Location: London

My Story:

In my role at Morrison I am responsible for dealing with all customer liaison needs on the contract, including complaints and issues that arise on the contract every day. I have only worked for Morrison for a few months but I really enjoy working closely with the tenants and the Morrison team to resolve issues quickly and to everyone’s satisfaction. The variety of the work is also really attractive to me, no two days are the same and there are always new challenges to face. The Redbridge team works really hard so it not difficult to get any problems that arise resolved quickly.

Steve Williams

Position: Joiner

Location: Liverpool

My Story:

I joined Morrison in 2009 when I transferred over through TUPE.  As a joiner my main responsibilities include replacing and repairing all aspects of a customer’s home, both inside and out.  I really enjoy working at Morrison as the variety of my work and meeting different people is great and provides me with job satisfaction.

To me, having the right tools and materials to the do the job I am there to do is a must as this always means I keep the disruption to the customer to a minimum.  I also think a little patience and understanding goes a long way in understanding our customer’s needs and delivering the best possible customer service.  In addition to this, I always pride myself on being on time and being smart and professional.

Customers are really important to me and to Morrison.