WM Housing Group, based in Bromsgrove, manages approximately 23,500 homes across the West Midlands, Herefordshire and Worcestershire. The group is structured to facilitate local accountability and the provision of high quality local services.

Founded in 1998, the group consists of Harden Housing Association, Nexus Housing, Kemble Housing and Herefordshire Supported Housing for Young People Project (SHYPP) with Whitefriars Housing joining in 2009. As the newly expanded Group consisted of approximately 830 employees, there was now a greater need for improved internal communications across the entire organization.

Prior to the formation of WM, Whitefriars Housing had been using a Sharepoint intranet site whereas the other member associations were using an intranet that had been developed in-house. Prior to the amalgamation of the group these intranet sites had suited their needs but this was now no longer the case.

It was decided that one universal intranet was necessary. The purpose of the new intranet would be to improve communication across the whole group. By doing this, all employees of WM Housing Group could be kept informed of all the activities that each association participates in.

When looking at intranet products on the market, WM’s main criteria were to have a flexible product which gave them the ability to develop it further in the future. They were also interested in an intranet product that did not require too much technical knowledge so it could be developed in-house.

SORCE were selected because of the adaptability of their intranet product. WM also found it appealing that it was not necessary to have expertise in development skills to use the SORCE product. SORCE offered training to WM’s staff so they could manage the system and make changes themselves.

WM now have an intranet that unifies the whole group. It is intended that the new intranet site will be the first port of call for all WM employees. Having been given training by SORCE, WM now have a flexible intranet system that they can confidently develop themselves as their business requirements change in the future.