CMH managing director Tina Drury named ‘Achiever of the year’

THE success of a multi-million pound investment programme to refurbish hundreds of homes across central Northumberland has won its leader a prestigious construction prize.
Tina Drury, managing director of Castle Morpeth Housing (CMH), was given the 'Achiever of the year' title at the Constructing Excellence North East awards for her work in co-ordinating a partnership of four firms on CMH's Major Improvement Programme.
The partnership was also highly commended in the Integration & Collaborative Working category of the awards.

Tina has worked with her counterparts at Faithful & Gould, Mears Group and FHM with the long-term aim of bringing all CMH homes up to the Government's Decent Homes Standard - with every home to be completed by the end of this year.
Tina won particular praise for her work leading the partnership in the days and weeks following the disastrous floods of September 2008.

Dozens of CMH tenants were flooded out of their homes, and Tina acted decisively to ensure all the properties were dried out rapidly. Then, in close collaboration with CMH's partners, she refocused the CMH improvement programme to ensure flood re-instatement works went hand in hand with the upgrades due to meet the Decent Homes Standard.
CMH's overall investment programme is seeing £32m spent over a five-year period on improving the company's homes.

The Achiever category of the Constructing Excellence Award called for "outstanding performance or influence by an individual who is truly inspirational in the opinion of the sector peer group.
"The winner will show exemplary actions that have changed the behaviour and performance of others and delivered disproportionate benefits for, and left a legacy in, the outputs of the built environment sector."

Meanwhile the Integration and Collaborative Working category was judged on the establishment of long-term working relationships and common processes and tools across organisations; and how workforce development has improved as a result of collaboration.
The success of the CMH Partnership at the regional awards means their work will now go forward to be considered on the national stage this September.

Tina said: "These awards are recognition and acknowledgement of the hard work everyone has put in to making our partnership the success it is. Each and every member of staff contributed in some way to our success. I have always believed that what we have is a partnership in the truest sense, where all partners are equal, where all partners have a common sense of purpose and everyone works together to bring benefit to the tenants of Castle Morpeth Housing."

Colin Middlemass, regional director of Mears Group, said: "Mears is extremely proud to be associated with this special partnership and congratulate Tina on her achievement of being awarded the title of Achiever of the Year.
"Tina ensures everyone gets recognition for their contribution and participation, and all the stakeholders are excellent partners who really share a commitment to great customer care and great customer service."

Keith McDougall, construction director for FHM North East, said: "The Castle Morpeth Housing Partnership operates using a genuine partnering arrangement.
"The client, led by Tina, really understands the concept of partnering - everyone works together to identify new solutions and form a successful partnering arrangement.
"Tina instils warmth and openness into the partnership at all levels. She gets involved, demonstrating how personally she takes the challenge of delivering a demanding decent homes improvement programme."

Sean McKeon, associate director of Faithful & Gould in Newcastle, said: "The Castle Morpeth Housing Partnership shows just what can be achieved when everybody works together towards a common goal of improving services to tenants.
"The focus and enthusiasm shown by Tina and her team, and the freedom, commitment and drive she has provided to all of the partners, has ensured that a partnership has developed which delivers real benefits and quality services to all the tenants."