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L&Q promotes Sharon Burns to group executive director of customer services
Sharon Burns, L&Q’s customer service and revenue director, will take over from Matt Foreman as the housing association’s executive group director for customer services in the new year.
L&Q promotes Sharon Burns to group executive director of customer services #UKhousingMs Burns, who has worked for more than three decades in the sector, was first hired by L&Q four years ago to lead on the restructuring of its housing team as it moved to a more localised staffing structure.
Before joining the 105,000-home London-based landlord, she worked for 15 years at 9,000-home Manchester housing association Trafford Housing Trust (THT), which was acquired by L&Q in 2019.
She is also a board member at South Manchester landlord Southway Housing Trust.
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In her role on L&Q’s executive board, Ms Burns will oversee key areas highlighted in the landlord’s recent regulatory inspection, how its service is designed and its approach to managing complaints.
Ms Burns said: “I want to ensure that L&Q’s customer service offer is the best it can be, so I relish the opportunity to join the executive group and help drive further improvements for residents and customers.
“This role is also responsible for the brilliant L&Q Foundation, which delivered £22m in social value for residents last year, and our award-winning supported living arm L&Q Living.
“I look forward to leading these, and our dedicated customer service teams as they deliver vital services for residents and communities.”
L&Q said Ms Burns’ promotion followed a rigorous process supported by public service leadership specialists GatenbySanderson.
This included meetings with tenants on the landlord’s resident services board, chairs of its internal colleague diversity networks and the executive group.
Fiona Fletcher-Smith, group chief executive of L&Q, said: “I’m absolutely delighted to welcome Sharon to the executive group.
“She has already been at the forefront of major customer service improvements at L&Q, such as a return to a more localised, patch-based housing management structure, and reducing our outstanding complaints by over 2,000.
“In her new role she will lead strategic priorities, including service design work to ensure that our housing managers are able to focus on the things that matter most to residents, improving the effectiveness of our complaint management approach, and addressing key areas highlighted by our recent regulatory inspection, such as the way we deal with anti-social behaviour.”
Mr Foreman will leave L&Q to become chief customer officer at 26,000-home Manchester-based landlord Great Places.
He originally joined the G15 landlord three years ago to oversee L&Q’s integration with THT.
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