Chester’s Muir Housing Group named one of the area’s most outstanding employers

Feb 10 2010 Chester Chronicle

A CHESTER housing association has been named as one of the area’s most “outstanding” employers after a prestigious national survey.

Muir Group Housing, which employs circa 170 staff, achieved two-star status in the latest survey by Best Companies, which aims to acknowledge organisations with a forward-thinking approach to staff engagement and development.

John Bellis, chief executive of Muir Group Housing, said: “We know that our employees are an integral part of our success and we aim to provide them with the very best training and development opportunities, working environment and culture possible.

“Knowing they are happy and proud to be part of Muir Group Housing is a huge bonus. Despite a challenging year this award demonstrates that staff engagement is still extremely high on our agenda and underlines our position as one of the UK’s leading employers.”

The major national accreditation surveyed employees in more than 1,000 organisations across the UK.

The confidential and voluntary survey asked employees to give their views on various aspects of their work, from leadership and management, to well-being and personal growth.

Using this information Best Companies marks the organisation on a star rating, where one star is first class, two stars is outstanding, and three stars is extraordinary.

Continually striving to improve employee engagement, the award shows Muir Group Housing is heading firmly in the right direction after being named ‘one to watch’ in 2007 followed by one-star status last year.

John Bellis added: “I would like to thank all our staff for their commitment and enthusiasm for the work they do, which has been reflected in this important accreditation.

“Retaining a motivated and dedicated workforce that is focused on delivering the best possible service to our customers is essential to Muir Group Housing and we will continue working hard to ensure we are a great organisation to work for.”

STAR PERFORMERS: Muir Group Housing chief executive John Bellis with head of human resources Elaine Roscoe.