Your Homes Newcastle is one of the region's largest property management organisations. Tina Drury joined in 2016 and in April this year helped to launch a 12-month plan informed by customer feedback.
What was your first job (and how much did it pay)?
My first ever job was at Dixon’s sports as a Saturday girl, and I was paid £5 a day.
What is the best advice or support you’ve been given in business?
I think the best advice I was ever given in my career was around job interviews. I was told when you are going for a new job or role you have to think yourself into the job. What I mean by that is to put yourself in the shoes of the role already as if it’s your current job. We all give examples of how we would do things but sit there and talk as if you’re already doing it. It’s helped me so much in the past as it makes me believe I’m capable of the job.
What are the main changes you’ve seen in your business/sector, and what are the challenges you’re facing?
When I joined the council in the 1980s there was really quite poor housing conditions, but I feel like we’ve gone full circle and we’re back to similar circumstances. We’re on the decline with lack of funding which is really hard. The challenge we face is making sure homes are safe and are well maintained but without funding and added pressures of new regulations, it’s hard to get a balance. I totally agree with all regulations that have come in after Grenfell and as an organisation our customers' safety is paramount.
The bigger picture is people are struggling and who would have thought people would have to use foodbanks in 2022, and it’s not just those who are on benefits, it’s people who are on low incomes and it’s terrible to think we’re living in a time like this. As an organisation we can’t give them extra money, but we can give them extra support and hopefully with that support we can help the customers who need it.
Housing is a big wraparound service which is supporting people who need it. It’s not about the property anymore, it’s about the people in it and I can’t stress that enough.
How has the pandemic changed the way you work?
The obvious one is introducing agile working into our organisation. Who would have thought we could just turn it around and all work from home, and it’s amazing what we’ve achieved in that time. I’m sure others agree that we don’t need to sit in an office to achieve the things we do anymore. In terms of services we offer, people have missed us in the communities, and we need to get back to that for, for example our hubs being available for our customers, but that’s not working differently that’s returning to how we worked. We’re going to people now as opposed to them coming to us, and it has been effective but we want to give our customers as many options as possible so they can get the support they need.
Who is your role model in business?
The only person I can think of is Sandra Thompson, head partner at EY. I read an article about her a couple of years back and realised she had a similar story to me of how she got to where she was – leaving school at 16 and working her way up.
What would your dream job be?
This sounds really cheesy, but this is it. I never expected to have it, I was never ambitious when I was younger, so I think this is what makes it so special, but it’s not the position it’s where I work that makes it a dream job. In my whole career, I’ve never left the North East, and dedicated myself to the area. I never thought I’d end up back as the managing director from starting as a repairs clerk. When the job came up, I didn’t think of even applying for the role until my old boss said I think you should go for that. I think it’s important to say to anyone reading this, it doesn’t matter where you start, if you care and want to help people, you’ll move up in housing.
What advice would you give to someone starting out a career in your sector?
When I first started working in housing, I didn’t know much about it, and didn’t know what to expect but after a few weeks I absolutely loved it. I didn’t have a plan for my career and didn’t have ambition, but opportunities came up and that’s how I ended up in the job. People that don’t work in the sector think buildings and properties but the whole point of housing is people, so I think for me if you don’t care for people, housing isn’t the career. First and foremost, you have to care for people, and you’ll meet so many people along the way that will also care and that’s how you can make an impact in housing.
What makes the North East a good place to do business?
Here in the North East, we’re known as friendly and we actually are, and as a region we just want to help people. There’s not the competitiveness you get across the country. I could go to another housing association for help and vice versa, and we can work together to do the right thing. The goal is not to be the best organisation out there, it’s to help people. We do tend to work together in the North East to make it a great place.
How important is it for business to play a role in society?
We play a massive part; we are the biggest housing provider within Newcastle and we don’t just provide the houses, we support the people in them. If people don’t have good housing, then this impacts other aspects of their life.
We mitigate against homelessness with the Newcastle City Council and the work we do plays a big part in our city as we’re not dealing with it, we’re preventing it by the support we give. Our Support and Progression team are there to offer services to customers that they may not get anywhere else. We give people a chance at life and help them wherever necessary.
Outside of work, what are you really good at?
I really struggled to think of this one, I don’t really have anything that I can think of although I am a good ironer but that’s quite boring. The only thing that popped into my head is I’m really good at water skiing. I used to water ski with my family in the Lakes and when I go on holiday I still do it. Probably something people wouldn’t think about me!
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