Press
release
ntl:Telewest Business
connects Riverside Group across the UK
- ntl:Telewest Business network links 230 sites across
England
- Improved communication for
2,000 employees
- New administrative base created to
improve customer service in south
15 August, 2007. ntl:Telewest Business is
enabling social housing association The Riverside Group to deliver
better customer service through improved channels of communication
following a major expansion. The recent merger of English
Churches Housing Group (ECHG) by the company makes Riverside one of
the biggest social housing associations in the UK, owning or
managing more than 50,000 properties.
Having previously been predominant in the
North West, Riverside’s new communications network fully links 200
sites that previously came under the remit of English Churches. The
new network provides bandwidth of up to 8Mb to each remote site and
will produce better customer service across England through greater
staff efficiency and flexibility. The infrastructure also enables
the creation of a new administrative base in London.
The Riverside Group was born in 1928 as
Liverpool Improved Houses and is a registered charity with almost
80 years of expertise in sustainable regeneration and renting homes
for a social purpose.
“These new links will make effective and
efficient collaboration between all of our offices and will also
help to create a stronger, more dynamic company”, said Derek Caren,
Managing Director of ECHG, [The Riverside Group]. “We are already
at the forefront of developing specialist supported housing
solutions, enabling the most vulnerable people to live independent,
dignified lives. Our new network will prove key in helping us to
maintain and consolidate this position through an improved ability
to communicate not only internally, but with those people that lie
at the heart of our business.”
The merger with ECHG has established The
Riverside Group as a nationwide Registered Social Landlord,
enabling the organisation to meet several of its strategic
objectives, including market diversification
Riverside’s IT Manager Rob Page, said: “Our commitment to
neighbourhoods can be seen in the millions of pounds we invest in
community projects each year, and in the hundreds of new homes we
build annually for shared ownership, rent and outright sale.
ntl:Telewest Business’ integration of all our UK sites has changed
the way we do business. Connecting a further 200 sites will enable
us to offer the same high levels of customer service currently in
place in the north west to thousands more people throughout
England.”
“The provision of affordable homes and the
resources to regenerate the communities in which they are located,
is key to improving the lives of thousands of people,” said John
Cunningham, director of business markets for ntl:Telewest Business.
“A fast and efficient customer service programme is key to
any business but in the case of social regeneration is crucial to
providing effective and concrete help to those most in need.”
Notes to editor:
1) ntl:Telewest Business connected The
Riverside Group’s offices using its own IP VPN technology, which
provides the security of a VPN with superior performance for
business-critical applications, plus the cost benefits of
converging voice, data and video traffic on the same network.
About ntl:Telewest Business
ntl:Telewest Business, part of the UK’s second
largest fixed-line telecommunications company, is a leading
communications provider to businesses, public sector organisations
and service providers in the UK. It delivers a complete portfolio
of voice, data and internet solutions nation-wide.
ntl:Telewest Business sales and support
teams are located across the UK, in close proximity to our
customers, as part of a commitment to deliver superior customer
service.
ntl:Telewest Business delivers services over
the Group’s £13bn investment in its state-of-the-art
infrastructure giving business customers access to the largest
alternative network in the UK.
ntl:Telewest Business is trusted to provide
critical communications to high profile customers
including: Heathrow's Terminal 5, Birmingham City Council,
Cambridgeshire County Council and Next.
For further information go to http://www.ntltelewestbusiness.co.uk/
Sara Doggett, PR
Executive
T: 01256
753101
E: Sara.Doggett@virginmedia.co.uk
Sam Grace, Press Office
ntl:Telewest
Business
Rainier PR
T: 020 7494 6593
E: sgrace@rainierpr.co.uk