*Emailed to customers with a known email address on 27 January 2022*

Dear customer,

I want to wish you a very happy new year (it’s not too late to say that, right?) and I hope you, like me, are looking ahead to the coming 12 months with a renewed sense of optimism. Although we are not out of the woods yet, thankfully fewer people appear to be getting seriously ill with the Omicron variant and I’m sure many of you were pleased to hear about the easing of restrictions which come into force from today.

This has meant, pleasingly, that we’ve not seen as much disruption as January 2021 albeit we are still experiencing significant challenges around call volumes, recruitment, and the wider supply chain.

Being the first month of the calendar year, January is often a time where we look ahead, study what is new, and consider whether there are any ways we can improve our lives through small lifestyle or behaviour changes. I know for me personally, after being inspired by fitness coach Joe Wicks, I’ve decided to switch off from technology at least an hour before bed and instead read a book – allowing my brain a digital detox and saving myself money on energy bills in the process!

I often get to a new year and decide to get better at how I budget and with energy, gas, and other household prices set to continue rising, there’s probably never been a better time to start. Talking finances can be a tricky subject which is why I’m so pleased that one of our colleagues, Nadia Malik in our income team, has been giving customers some tips on how to start budgeting today.

But why should you even start budgeting in the first place? And where can you go for support? Nadia has taken a couple of minutes out of her daily routine to explain more so do give it a listen.

With a brand new year comes some great news about our approach to community investment. Building great relationships with our customers isn’t just about doing that directly but about supporting the charities, schools, and other community groups who do so much fantastic work in supporting our customers to thrive.

I’m really pleased to say we have agreed to additional investment across our communities following some impressive results in our Gloucestershire communities. This has been enabled, in large part, thanks to the sterling work of one of our colleagues Janette (seen here on the left) so please do give it a read. I can also tell you that a new community grant programme for customers is being worked on, and I hope to bring you more good news about that in the coming months.

Sadly, incidents of domestic abuse remain at too high a level and we know from past experience that victims can come from any walk of life, in any situation. That’s why it is so important we constantly look at how we can support customers when they need it and give victims and survivors the confidence in knowing where to go. I’m proud to say we’ve recently launched a brand new domestic abuse policy and toolkit to do just that and our homelessness lead Hazel is encouraging everyone to be vigilant and play their part.

I’m glad that many of you watched the video from Darron Cox, our director of service delivery, earlier this month on the situation around our repairs service and some of the challenges we are still facing. On Friday, Darron welcomed a beautiful new baby boy into the world so he isn’t back with a video for this edition, however he will be back in February to provide you with a further update. What I can say today is that we are continuing to make this our number one priority and in recent days have upped our investment by bringing onboard an additional seven subcontractors to help our in-house team get to your repairs in a quicker timescale. We do appreciate your patience as we work to reduce the backlog yet further.

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, we want to hear your stories of you sharing the love. It could be a particularly kind-hearted gesture you have made in the community or maybe a long-term relationship that has conquered all. Submit your entry to communications.team@bromford.co.uk with the subject line ‘share the love’ and we’ll announce the lucky winner of a £20 Amazon gift card next month.

A big thank you to Nadia, Janette, and Hazel for their contributions and please remember that as we get stuck into 2022, your neighbourhood coach is still here to support you should you need it. I’m looking forward to reading your share the love submissions and I’ll be back in February with more from the world of Bromford.

With best wishes,





Rohini Mehra
Chief customer officer