As great example of this is our ‘loose furniture’ in our true student developments. It’s made down in sleepy North Devon by an inspiring group of folk at Next Steps….

Next Steps Development is a registered charity established to give opportunity to young adults with often profound learning and physical disabilities, providing training and developing skills to create confidence and purpose. Most of the materials used are upcycled, so there’s a great sustainability story here too, with each piece truly unique.

“We actively support individuals with learning disabilities, physical disabilities and mental health issues who have struggled to find or maintain employment. We believe in showcasing their abilities instead of focusing on their disabilities, and thanks to all you guys, we have been able to do this with the furniture we have supplied to true student” – Louise, CEO & Co-founder, Next Steps Development

Bricks and true student are proud to have supported Next Steps for over 5 years, and their beautiful furniture, signs and picture frames can be found across our schemes, with the team currently busy working on loose FF&E for Swansea, Glasgow and Liverpool.

They’re always looking for great new ideas, and we just love their energy and enthusiasm, so feel free to send pics of their kit in use – it’s always great to see! 

Technology like this allows us to respond to our guests evolving needs, as it unlocks the opportunity to provide classes for our guests in their rooms, to book equipment in the on-site gyms, upload personalised content and track how the guests are getting on . We currently have over 200 guests using it across Salford and Birmingham, and we continue to work closely with Technogym providing them with feedback on how the app is being used so we can continue to improve it.

It’s an inclusive platform that helps encourage our guests to support their individual wellbeing needs, whether they are a beginner or more advanced. This initiative is run by Vince, our true student Wellbeing Manager, who is currently looking at creating focus group-style sessions to gain more feedback to help tailor the content to each guest.

“We are putting personalised plans in place for guests who want to work-out in the comfort and privacy of their rooms, and this means we have seen people, across all cultures, who have never stepped foot in a gym before, starting to fall in love with exercise!” – Holly, GM Salford

“It’s a great way to lift the spirts of any guests who may be feeling a little down. It definitely relaxes the guests, and they come up to us and chat about the dog – it also gives us a chance to chat about other things, too!” Will Clark, GM true Newcastle

“It’s the big and the little things people respond to – they love knowing the on-site teams will be here to look after them, that we check in on guests to ensure they are ok, that we have the right Covid-19 procedures, and most of all that trueLife provides amazing experiences and the best community feel” – Holly, GM true Salford/Manchester

We’ve had Berlitz students staying at competing developments come over and view true, and are now staying with us! This is the start of a great opportunity for summer-lets this year and looking beyond into 2022

A recent graduate from Salford, Kate’s role is purely focused on helping us to deliver an award-winning guest experience, and from what we hear, she’s off to flying start…

“…recently two guests arrived at true Newcastle from Chicago and the Lebanon, obviously not knowing the area! So Kate took an hour out of her day to take them out, one at a time, around the different sites of Newcastle, to get familiar with the local hotspots and even bought them an ice-cream! We hear the girls really enjoyed themselves and now visit these spots whenever they can!” Well done, Kate!

“The feedback so far from our guests has been really positive, seeing someone who is proactively working for them helps our guests to know they have someone they can go to directly – it’s really helped to transform relationships on site” – Will, GM true Newcastle

“We have also introduced an initiative called ‘we twixed it’ that works alongside the maintenance process. It focuses on making the whole process, from logging an issue through to resolving it, as personal as possible. When we have found a solution, we put a personalised note into the guest’s room explaining what we have done, along with a Twix bar!“

–  nice touch guys, and surely an opportunity to talk to Mars about this….there’s a brand partnership opportunity in there, so step up all of you lovers of chocolate!

It’s an opportunity to understand what are we doing well and what can be improved upon, so we can constantly deliver a brand experience. 

Our approach to these sessions is summarized in the phrase “you said, we did”, meaning we actively listen and respond to what we hear.
“ the focus of trueVoice is to grow and learn and to make changes. It means we’re taking ownership of problems and seeing how we can positively make a difference. We can’t promise to do everything, but there are many things that we can do better” – Kirsty, true Regional Operations Manager 

After finally completing this beautiful new 184-bed hotel in September, we’ve been eagerly awaiting the chance to throw open the doors and welcome our first guests, and now we have!

“Just 200m from the airport terminal, this fabulous hotel promises to be one of our star trading assets, and as the world of air travel gets back to normal, we’re looking forward to the team there delivering on all of our exciting expectations!” – Allan, Bricks Group COO