5. “Generally it is
about people’s
willingness to
adapt and use
technology, and as
you can imagine
some people are
quite fearful of
that change”
– Gary Thomas, CIO,
FirstPort
the leading residential property
services, creating communities
where residents thrive and flourish.
Former roles with Affinity Water
(previously known as Veolia) and
Oracle emboldened Thomas’
passion for leading IT teams and
delivering essential IT integration
projects within the UK and the US.
Completing an MBA at Cranfield
University in 2014 has fully
strengthened his resolve, alongside
an ever increased focus on customer
service, with the use of technology
to improve customers’ lives.
Thomas acknowledges that
FirstPort has gone through periods
of significant change in the last
couple of years, such as “refreshing
their infrastructure, including the
replacement of two data centres
to create a private cloud, with a
focus to ensure colleagues in the
organisation have the tools to
deliver great customer service.”
For modern consumers, the use of
technology in daily life is normal, but
Thomas reflects that “sometimes
it is not age related; generally, it
is about people’s willingness to
adapt and use technology, and
as you can imagine some people
are quite fearful of that change.”
Adopting key standards
Whilst FirstPort incorporates three
diverse areas, the company ensures all
properties are maintained by adopting
a four pillar model – strong health
and safety, high site standards, great
customer service and healthy estate
finances. Technology is key to ensure
all properties under FirstPort’s umbrella
are compliant alongside continual
changes in legislation. Thomas
explains this is important not only
from a compliance perspective, but
also to assure customers that where
they are living in a welcoming place.
Property Managers at FirstPort
ensure the upkeep of outside
communal areas to the various sites,
creating positive environments, with
any potential maintenance undertaken
by the company when required.
Throughout these assessments,
potential feedback is gained alongside
surveys and interviews. Thomas
stresses that for the company to
continuously improve, it is imperative to
8 w w w. f i r s t p o r t . c o . u k 9
6. Helping FirstPort to deliver exceptional customer service
We are proud to be long standing suppliers of the
property management software at the core of the
FirstPort business. While we are proud of this history,
we look forward helping them on their future journey, as their business grows
and they continue to innovate, delivering a great experience to their residents.
www.qubeglobal.com
understand whether customers would recommend them
to friends and family - if not, to focus on areas which
need the most attention. To ensure all services
paid by residents deliver value, alongside the
management of customer finances, FirstPort
negotiates frameworks surrounding key service
contracts, in turn producing statutory and client
accounts to ensure they are maintained.
Technological investments
Technology has been utilised to support both
colleagues and customers to drive FirstPort’s goals,
a quality service and improve the lives of customers.
“The biggest challenge is for technology to be an
enabler for our people and for our customers and for
that technology to make things as easy as possible
and to deliver a service consistently”, Thomas adds.
Numberof
employeesat
FirstPort
3,100
w w w. f i r s t p o r t . c o . u k 1 1
7. The company has invested in 1,500
Windows 10 tablets and incorporated
the use of Microsoft Yammer to enable
colleagues to deliver essential services
and break down any potential barriers.
“Whether it’s inspecting a property,
doing health and safety inspections,
raising an order and relating to work
on one of the sites of one of our
developments, it’s about effectively
making lives easier and streamlining
business process”, Thomas explains.
Through a device valuation, the
company has now also adopted
Lenovo Miix 700 tablets which will
provide access to services such as
email, collaboration and procurement,
but also complement the other parts
of FirstPort’s technology strategy.
For example, as Thomas describes:
“The move to Microsoft Office 365
will provide basic tools around email
and collaboration, while the roll out
of SharePoint will provide a much
better platform for collaboration
and information management.”
We have implemented HPE
Proliant Bladesystem servers with
HPE 3PAR StoreServ storage
at both of our data centres.
Providing digital support
To support and encourage customers
to utilise technology, FirstPort has
become the first UK customer of
Barclays Digital Eagles Initiative. The
programme is aimed at strengthening
the digital awareness of stakeholder
champions, seconded from within
FirstPort in order to provide essential
training and support to colleagues
and residents in areas such as internet
banking and online transactions.
Thomas adds: “It’s easy to forget
that you could have a 60-year-old
lady that lives on site at a retirement
property – how does she relate to
FirstPort as an employer because
her world is within that building, and
that is why the Digital Eagles and
new technology is important.”
FirstPort’s Digital Eagles have
visited developments and reached out
to residents by providing vital support
and guidance, in turn increasing
client engagement. FirstPort is also
set to develop ‘code playgrounds’
(a concept first introduced by
Barclays) which are interactive
workshops designed to teach the
new generation vital coding skills
1 2 w w w. f i r s t p o r t . c o . u k 1 3
8. P | P c | I m | b
W ’ v c
Wherever documents exist or are created in a business,
be they physical or digital, Stratas can help effect change.
From Information Governance and unstructured data to
Managed Print Services and the business processes
in between, we are a Technology Services company
who specialises in innovative information
and documeand document solutions.
“Stratas is focused on not only how
we do things, but how we could do
things. They have shown us the
Art of the Possible and current
projects will deliver real benefits
and tangible cost savings.”
Gareth Julian
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to help bridge the digital skills gap.
Since the program was launched, customers have
connected with relatives who live abroad through
the use of Skype and been set up on email.
Thomas explains: “Of the thousands of residents
who are retired that we deliver customer service
to, some of them are very savvy but others
aren’t. For those, actually sitting down with them
and helping demystify a lot of this stuff is helpful.”
Thomas acknowledges that although the
industry is regularly overlooked, when things go wrong
consequences are high. “We don’t always get it right,
but that’s important because that takes us through a
journey, reflecting on what we’re not doing as well as
we could do, what we are doing well and that’s driving
Theyearthat
FirstPortwas
founded
1986
w w w. f i r s t p o r t . c o . u k 1 5
9. “Of the thousands of residents who are
retired that we deliver customer service to,
some of them are very savvy but others
aren’t. For those, actually sitting down
with them and helping demystify
a lot of this stuff is helpful”
– Gary Thomas, CIO, FirstPort
continuous service improvement,” he adds.
FirstPort’s motto “more than just bricks
and mortar” is clear to see through Thomas’
passion to deliver a robust service which
puts the customer first. Although the
company has had to overcome challenges,
this has been possible because it has a
strong, highly engaged workforce with a
‘can do’ approach and continual desire to
improve the lives of its residents. By utilising
technology for colleagues to provide an
efficient service and increase customer
engagement, FirstPort is putting clients
at the forefront of all decision making in
order to create positive environments.
w w w. f i r s t p o r t . c o . u k 1 7
One of the UK’s pre-eminent providers of on premises and cloud IT infrastructure
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