As I reflect on my first six months in the role as Chief Executive at Halton, I think it could be summed up in three words: people, places and passion.

Since starting in October, I have been spending as much time as possible getting to know the organisation by meeting with colleagues, customers, partner organisations and getting out and about to get a real feel for our neighbourhoods and communities.

Great day out with the @HaltonHousing Voids Team this week. Started with a couple of void inspections (brought back some great memories 😊), then out with Daz and Danny on the tools (well they allowed me to brush 🧹 up 😊) Both a credit to the Halton Maintenance Team 👏🏻 pic.twitter.com/iYXaj1MZFp

— Sam Scott (@SamS_Halton) January 26, 2023

From estate walkabouts, clean up days, and shadowing our maintenance teams; to community events, meeting the customer forum, chatting to customers in our schemes and meeting stakeholders from across Halton, there really has been no substitute for hearing feedback and ideas directly from the people we work with and serve. There have been several challenges that have had an impact on all Housing Associations since I’ve started, but I’m really excited about the future and the ongoing positive impact that Halton Housing can have.

Really interesting and insightful day with the @HaltonHousing Customer Forum yesterday, timely feedback ahead of the Board Strategy Day today. Thank you Amy and @GeorginaCrankHH 👍🏻 pic.twitter.com/J9MCryMizR

— Sam Scott (@SamS_Halton) December 8, 2022

I’ve met so many incredible people and have listened to what customers and colleagues tell me we are doing well, and what we could perhaps do better.  What I have seen is a real passion and drive from colleagues right across Halton Housing to deliver great services to our customers, to continue to improve our homes and our neighbourhoods and to tangibly improve people’s lives across Halton.

In March I spent time with the Development and Sales teams to have a look around our latest developments. I spent time at Sewell Street, Thornfield Green and Orchard Meadows, chatting to development partners who are working on site, and being shown around the show apartments. It was a great day!

Time to see @HaltonHousing new homes today 🏠 Great mix of brownfield schemes and semi-rural rent and #sharedownership Really impressed to see how our development programme is #ImprovingPeoplesLives Big thanks to Dan and @BexLawrence_od 👏🏻 pic.twitter.com/MDupMhuEOl

— Sam Scott (@SamS_Halton) March 21, 2023

I’m going to be using everything I’ve seen and heard so far, to shape our future direction as we set the priorities for the next phase of our Corporate Plan 2022 - 2025, so please, watch this space!

Finally, I’m really keen to keep a sharp focus on the issues that matter most to our customers, so please take the time to have your say, and continue to help shape the improvements we plan to make – your feedback and suggestions really do matter.