At Platform we are passionate about growing our own and providing career opportunities for our colleagues. Duncan Palmer, Head of Responsive Repairs, has worked for the Group since 2012 originally joining as an electrician delivering day to day repairs. After 3 years an opportunity became available for him to move into a Lead Engineer role that saw him supporting teams of front line operatives delivering the day to day service, whilst also carrying out void inspections.
Following a restructure not long afterwards, Duncan moved into a Service Manager role, managing a team of 12 electricians and 15 plumbers. The focus now became data, numbers and transparency between management and trade teams trying to break down the stigma of “us and them” and working as one team to deliver a customer centric service.
Due to an internal promotion the position of Operations Manager became available in 2019 and he applied. He successfully moved into this role bringing with him the skills of management he had used in previous roles, to support the team across Worcestershire. This position directly managed 4 Service Managers, who in turn looked after 58 trades colleagues, delivering 60,000 repairs per year. Within this role Duncan has been able to grow the team, moving many formerly outsourced services inhouse.
Duncan has been Head of Responsive Repairs since 2021 and he currently manages 9 Service Managers, who in turn manage 9 Supervisors and 186 trades colleagues delivering in excess of 150,000 repairs per year.
We asked Duncan how he felt about his career development here at Platform and what the future holds:
“Platform has provided me with opportunities I never imagined possible, who knows where I go from here, my short to medium term goals are to make Property Care and the repairs team a sector leading repairs provider, delivering high scoring customer satisfaction, high volume repairs, whilst ensuring team engagement. I want all the trades teams within the repairs area to feel like they are part of what the business is trying to achieve, clear objectives but also the reasons why these objectives are set and how they feed into the bigger picture.“
