Review of the year 2023
As we prepare to close the door on 2023 and enter the new year, we want to take a moment to reflect on what has been an exciting 12 months for SafeDeposits Scotland.
In January we kicked off the year in style by extending our opening hours to 8am-10pm, Monday-Friday, allowing us to be more accessible for calls and emails throughout the week - particularly for people who may be too busy to reach us during the typical working day.
We held our Burns Quiz Night in Glasgow, to raise funds for youth homelessness charity Rock Trust. This was followed by two other fundraising quiz nights through the year - one held in Aberdeen in May and another Edinburgh quiz in September.
Mould and condensation is a very hot topic when it comes to disputes, and in February we held two online sessions on exactly this. These gathered a lot of interest, and if you missed them you can find one of the sessions on our YouTube channel.
Our Customer Relations team attended the Propertymark Conference in March where an introduction to SafeDeposits Scotland was presented. We received very positive feedback from the delegates who attended the conference.
The logo and characters you may have seen around our website came from our re-branding in May, bridging the gap between our own branding and that of our parent group TDS. We think that the new branding adds a welcome pop of colour to SafeDeposits and is overall more friendly and inviting!
The SafeDeposits Scotland Community Fund was launched in June. As a not-for-profit organisation, we wanted to give back to communities around Scotland, giving small grants of up to £2,000 to community-based projects. To date, we have funded a variety of different projects including new equipment for Cerebral Palsy Scotland in Glasgow, and new skills development opportunities at Bridgend Farmhouse in Edinburgh. You can learn more about the Community Fund and how you can apply for funding here.
Hot on the heels of a busy period for deposit protection as the new academic year commenced and many students started new tenancies, September started with a bang as we moved from our office of nine years to a new one. Where? Not far, in fact our new office is right across the road from our old one, avoiding the need for our team to adjust to new travel plans.
Also that month, our Resolution manager David and Resolution Team Leader Samantha participated in a zipline over the River Clyde to raise money for Rock Trust. The SafeDeposits Scotland Charitable Trust hit a massive milestone too, passing £1 million in total grants given since the first award in 2016.
Providing excellent customer service is of the utmost importance to our team, and we can proudly say that in September our Customer Service Excellence accreditation was renewed. We attended The Herald Property Awards for Scotland in the same month, and were delighted to sponsor the award for Residential Letting Team of the Year which was won by Macleod and MacCallum.
From one award ceremony to another, in October the CIH (Chartered Institute of Housing) Scotland Housing Awards 2023 took place, where we sponsored the Excellence in the Private Rented Sector category. As part of the SafeDeposits Scotland Community Fund, we worked together with housing charity Lintel Trust to present Lintel Soup, where visitors could pop along to hear pitches from three different charities and then vote on how a funding pot of £4,500 should be split between them. Soup and sandwiches were served up to all who visited.
SAL's (Scottish Association of Landlords) flagship conference Scottish Letting Day made its grand return at Murrayfield in Edinburgh. The event was a huge success with plenty of positive feedback for SafeDeposits Scotland from the many landlords and letting agents who visited our stand. The SafeDeposits Scotland Charitable Trust had its own stand too. We have another article all about the event which you can read here.
Finally we arrive at December, where we could not be more proud of our very own Resolution Manager David Morgan, who won the award for Learner of the Year at the Propertymark Qualifications Awards 2023! David's commitment to learning is an inspiration to the rest of the SafeDeposits Scotland team.
As we take our first few steps into 2024, the SafeDeposits Scotland team looks forward to another busy year of deposit protection, providing excellent customer service and supporting Scotland's private rented sector.
