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More than bricks & mortar

More than bricks & mortar

FirstPort enables customers with a ‘can do’ attitude and

technological expertiseWritten by Catherine Rowell

Produced by Andrew Lloyd

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Gary Thomas, Chief Information Officer of FirstPort discusses being part of the largest residential property management company, delivering key IT services which are personable for customers and clients, with the goal to make life easier through technological expertise

With an increased need for companies

to provide services which are not only

personable, but able to incorporate a

multitude of functions to accommodate a variety

of client needs, provides an array of challenges.

FirstPort’s CIO Gary Thomas has been

behind the company’s successful streamlining

and transformation of IT services, developing

key infrastructure to provide greater client

engagement. With three portfolios: retirement,

property services and bespoke services,

FirstPort is the UK’s largest residential

property manager, delivering services for

180,000 residents within Great Britain. With

over 30 years’ experience, the company

delivers a diverse range of services in order

to provide key support, with the vision to be

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“Generally it is about people’s willingness to adapt and use technology, and as you can imagine some people are quite fearful of that change”– Gary Thomas, CIO,

FirstPort

the leading residential property

services, creating communities

where residents thrive and flourish.

Former roles with Affinity Water

(previously known as Veolia) and

Oracle emboldened Thomas’

passion for leading IT teams and

delivering essential IT integration

projects within the UK and the US.

Completing an MBA at Cranfield

University in 2014 has fully

strengthened his resolve, alongside

an ever increased focus on customer

service, with the use of technology

to improve customers’ lives.

Thomas acknowledges that

FirstPort has gone through periods

of significant change in the last

couple of years, such as “refreshing

their infrastructure, including the

replacement of two data centres

to create a private cloud, with a

focus to ensure colleagues in the

organisation have the tools to

deliver great customer service.”

For modern consumers, the use of

technology in daily life is normal, but

Thomas reflects that “sometimes

it is not age related; generally, it

is about people’s willingness to

adapt and use technology, and

as you can imagine some people

are quite fearful of that change.”

Adopting key standardsWhilst FirstPort incorporates three

diverse areas, the company ensures all

properties are maintained by adopting

a four pillar model – strong health

and safety, high site standards, great

customer service and healthy estate

finances. Technology is key to ensure

all properties under FirstPort’s umbrella

are compliant alongside continual

changes in legislation. Thomas

explains this is important not only

from a compliance perspective, but

also to assure customers that where

they are living in a welcoming place.

Property Managers at FirstPort

ensure the upkeep of outside

communal areas to the various sites,

creating positive environments, with

any potential maintenance undertaken

by the company when required.

Throughout these assessments,

potential feedback is gained alongside

surveys and interviews. Thomas

stresses that for the company to

continuously improve, it is imperative to

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Helping FirstPort to deliver exceptional customer service

We are proud to be long standing suppliers of the property management software at the core of the FirstPort business. While we are proud of this history,

we look forward helping them on their future journey, as their business grows and they continue to innovate, delivering a great experience to their residents.

www.qubeglobal.com

understand whether customers would recommend them

to friends and family - if not, to focus on areas which

need the most attention. To ensure all services

paid by residents deliver value, alongside the

management of customer finances, FirstPort

negotiates frameworks surrounding key service

contracts, in turn producing statutory and client

accounts to ensure they are maintained.

Technological investments Technology has been utilised to support both

colleagues and customers to drive FirstPort’s goals,

a quality service and improve the lives of customers.

“The biggest challenge is for technology to be an

enabler for our people and for our customers and for

that technology to make things as easy as possible

and to deliver a service consistently”, Thomas adds.

Number of employees at

FirstPort

3,100

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The company has invested in 1,500

Windows 10 tablets and incorporated

the use of Microsoft Yammer to enable

colleagues to deliver essential services

and break down any potential barriers.

“Whether it’s inspecting a property,

doing health and safety inspections,

raising an order and relating to work

on one of the sites of one of our

developments, it’s about effectively

making lives easier and streamlining

business process”, Thomas explains.

Through a device valuation, the

company has now also adopted

Lenovo Miix 700 tablets which will

provide access to services such as

email, collaboration and procurement,

but also complement the other parts

of FirstPort’s technology strategy.

For example, as Thomas describes:

“The move to Microsoft Office 365

will provide basic tools around email

and collaboration, while the roll out

of SharePoint will provide a much

better platform for collaboration

and information management.”

We have implemented HPE

Proliant Bladesystem servers with

HPE 3PAR StoreServ storage

at both of our data centres.

Providing digital supportTo support and encourage customers

to utilise technology, FirstPort has

become the first UK customer of

Barclays Digital Eagles Initiative. The

programme is aimed at strengthening

the digital awareness of stakeholder

champions, seconded from within

FirstPort in order to provide essential

training and support to colleagues

and residents in areas such as internet

banking and online transactions.

Thomas adds: “It’s easy to forget

that you could have a 60-year-old

lady that lives on site at a retirement

property – how does she relate to

FirstPort as an employer because

her world is within that building, and

that is why the Digital Eagles and

new technology is important.”

FirstPort’s Digital Eagles have

visited developments and reached out

to residents by providing vital support

and guidance, in turn increasing

client engagement. FirstPort is also

set to develop ‘code playgrounds’

(a concept first introduced by

Barclays) which are interactive

workshops designed to teach the

new generation vital coding skills

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projects will deliver real benefits and tangible cost savings.”

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to help bridge the digital skills gap.

Since the program was launched, customers have

connected with relatives who live abroad through

the use of Skype and been set up on email.

Thomas explains: “Of the thousands of residents

who are retired that we deliver customer service

to, some of them are very savvy but others

aren’t. For those, actually sitting down with them

and helping demystify a lot of this stuff is helpful.”

Thomas acknowledges that although the

industry is regularly overlooked, when things go wrong

consequences are high. “We don’t always get it right,

but that’s important because that takes us through a

journey, reflecting on what we’re not doing as well as

we could do, what we are doing well and that’s driving

The year that FirstPort was

founded

1986

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“Of the thousands of residents who are retired that we deliver customer service to,

some of them are very savvy but others aren’t. For those, actually sitting down

with them and helping demystify a lot of this stuff is helpful”

– Gary Thomas, CIO, FirstPort

continuous service improvement,” he adds.

FirstPort’s motto “more than just bricks

and mortar” is clear to see through Thomas’

passion to deliver a robust service which

puts the customer first. Although the

company has had to overcome challenges,

this has been possible because it has a

strong, highly engaged workforce with a

‘can do’ approach and continual desire to

improve the lives of its residents. By utilising

technology for colleagues to provide an

efficient service and increase customer

engagement, FirstPort is putting clients

at the forefront of all decision making in

order to create positive environments.

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One of the UK’s pre-eminent providers of on premises and cloud IT infrastructure and managed service soluti ons, with a parti cular focus on the provision of complementary technical services.

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Tel: +44 (0)333 321 4080Email: help@firstport.co.uk

www.firstport.co.uk