Longhurst Group chairman confident company will
continue to flourish
Friendship’s parent company, Longhurst Group has held its 9th
Annual General Meeting (AGM) this week at its headquarters in
Boston, Lincolnshire.
Board Members and Directors joined together to celebrate the
Group’s key successes and, in particular, to honour the retirement
of their loyal Chairman of nine years, Barrie Gosling.
A keen Boston United football supporter, Barrie Gosling was a
member of Longhurst Housing Association for 17 years and Chairman
for 5 years before joining Longhurst Group as Chairman in
2001.
Describing it as the ‘Most challenging year in LG’s nine year
history’, Barrie thanked staff for their fundamental support and
enthusiasm and announced just some the company’s main
successes:
· Friendship Care and Housing received recognition from
Birmingham City Council’s Supporting People team for delivering
excellent support services, based on an in-depth review and
stakeholder and service user feedback
· Spire Homes received a successful Rutland County Council
stock transfer vote with 87.1% of tenants voting yes for the
transfer of their homes to Spire
· Longhurst Group achieved 73.5% employee satisfaction in
their employee satisfaction survey, placing them in the top 16% of
all companies
· Longhurst Homes achieved the Charter Mark, a government
sponsored award for customer excellence, in recognition for its
housing services team
· The development team exceeded all of its targets with
completions 17% above target for the year
· Havelok Homes achieved three star ‘excellent’ status – the
highest rating given by the government sponsored Care Quality
Commission for its residential care homes
Ending his last report as Chairman, Barrie said: “I have enjoyed
my role immensely and believe that Longhurst Group is in good shape
to face the challenges ahead and will continue to flourish in the
future.”
David Armes takes over as Chairman of Longhurst Group following
12 years as Chairman of member company Longhurst
Homes.
Barrie has been appointed President of Longhurst Group and will
continue to be involved in the business for the next two
years.