Why clients and customers value accredited and regulated services.

You get what you pay for is often cited in property management - which is great - until something goes wrong that is.

I am asked all the time why we expect all our sub contractors to be Safe Contractor Approved and CHAS Accredited and why we use a preferred contractor list. I am asked what the benefit of our Quality Assurance accreditations are and why bother with Investors in People.

The simple answer is we want to be the best. The more complex response is around the provision of the most effective, safe, value for money services in what remains an industry of widely differing service offerings in an increasingly competitive and highly complex environment.

Mainstay's clients want assurances relating to the safe operation and protection of their assets. Our customers want assurances about the safety and security of their homes and our responsiveness. That is why we are RICS members and ARMA Q accredited and why we are ISO 9001 and OHSAS 18001. It is why we employ engineers, compliance experts and procurement officers.

Our customers and clients want to know that our staff are also valued; so we are currently working from our Silver award for Investors in People to achieve Gold. We have developed our own in house training framework and staff are trained in health and safety, encouraged to take IRPM qualifications and have access to courses such as Leadership, Customer Service and Diversity.

In these areas Mainstay clearly leads the way and none of these badges are easily won or easily retained. We continue to be unique in this critical area.

At Mainstay we believe that property management is an important element in creating happy, stable communities and improving their relationships with the built environment. We believe we have something important to contribute and to do that we must move beyond traditional property management and become thought leaders and change makers in what remains a conservative village industry. Our clients are now demanding this of the new breed of property managers and the starting point is to be fully accredited and properly regulated.