Case Studies - Public Sector | Insignia Promotional Products

Case Studies - Public Sector

Hounslow Homes was formed in 2002 as one of the first arm’s-length management organisations (ALMOs) in the country. Owned by the London Borough of Hounslow, Hounslow Homes manages the council’s 16,500 homes. Services to residents include a customer service centre, a dedicated anti-social behaviour team that also supports and advises residents, neighbourhood wardens, rent and equalities teams and a caretaking and grounds maintenance service.

Hounslow Homes’ strategy is to be readily accessible to tenants, so they can easily make contact when they need assistance. To support this aim, Hounslow Homes purchases a wide range of items including rulers, key chains, stressballs, pens and pencils, piggy banks, backpacks, shopper bags, magnets and calendars. Branded with the Hounslow Homes logo, these products are used to promote the various services and advertise contact details.

Says Etaize Anstis, Press and Publicity Officer, “We give away branded items on fun-days and information events such as a recent Disability Awareness Day. Most of our teams are present on these days and have a selection of branded merchandise to hand out to tenants.”

Etaize Anstis is delighted with the range of goods available through Insignia, saying, “It’s very easy to look through the catalogues and online, and find what we need. Then we send a link to the team, so they can view the items and choose.” Hounslow Homes also finds Insignia’s customer service ethos and flexible approach helpful. Says Etaize, “If I can’t find a particular product in the catalogue, Insignia can usually track down what we need. Sometimes we will ask Insignia to make recommendations too, but mostly the teams have their favourite products.”

Insignia also affords Hounslow Homes the convenience of a ‘one-stop-shop’. Etaize concludes, “It’s great that Insignia has such a fantastic range of good quality products in one place, for us to chose from.”

Situated just three miles from the city, the London Borough of Newham is an area rich in global culture. It has the youngest and most diverse population in the UK; more than 40 per cent of Newham’s citizens are under 25 years old and more than 140 languages are spoken locally - from Albanian to Zhuang.

Like many boroughs, Newham holds regular Citizenship Ceremonies. New British Citizens swear or affirm an oath of allegiance and a pledge of commitment to the Queen in a formal group ceremony which is designed to be both memorable and meaningful. At Newham’s ceremonies, each new British Citizen receives a commemorative medal. The ceremony is an important occasion and the medal is received as a much valued memento.

Like all local authorities, Newham is constantly seeking to achieve best value in its purchasing. The borough orders around 4,000 commemorative medals in a single order each year. Steve McCarthy, Registration and Ceremonies Officer says, “This represents a significant one-off cost, which we needed to reduce.” Steve contacted Insignia, who requested a sample of the existing medal for comparison and provided some samples of medals which could be produced at a lower cost. Says Steve, “It took a couple of sets of samples before the new medals met our expectations, but once they did, we placed our order with Insignia.” Steve was delighted that Insignia were able to supply the new medals at a saving of 40% over the previous supplier.

On receipt of the new medals it became apparent that a few had become spoiled during storage and transit. Steve notes, “Insignia took an active role in communicating our issues to the manufacturer and suggesting ways to improve the production and packaging of the next batch of medals.” Insignia also offered Steve a credit against the spoiled medals in the first batch, which was a consideration he much appreciated.

Steve is now delighted with Newham’s commemorative citizenship medals, and particularly with the service he has received from Insignia and the saving Insignia was able to deliver. He concludes, “Where other Register Offices seek my advice on citizenship mementos, I’m always happy to recommend Insignia as a supplier. They listen to their customers, and they have proved themselves to be very responsive and mindful of our needs, as well as being able to offer great value.”