Our meeting with Vivi

As Secretary, I attend the national Residents' Association forum, which brings together representatives from Regency sites across the country every few months. The purpose of these meetings is to discuss issues affecting individual parks and to raise wider concerns directly with Regency.

At the most recent meeting on 8 October, Vivi lefrate, Regency's Interim Head of Communities, attended as a guest speaker.

The Communities department is a newly created area within Regency. Its purpose is to strengthen communication with Residents' Associations and residents, providing a more direct and personal approach to engagement.

Vivi is currently on secondment from Ambassador, Regency Living's parent company, where she has been asked to take on a troubleshooting role as Interim Director of Communities and Estates. Ambassador is the company that acquired the business and established the Regency Living brand following administration.

During the meeting, Vivi acknowledged that standards across a number of areas had not met expectations. She recognised ongoing concerns relating to staffing levels, grounds maintenance and customer service.

She advised that Regency is currently carrying out comprehensive surveys and investigations across all its sites. Findings from these reviews, together with plans for addressing any identified issues, are expected to be published in November.

Whilst this is all positive and encouraging, residents had heard similar assurances in the past so any judgement would ultimately be based on visible improvements and tangible results. However there are some early signs of progress. One example is the long-standing issue regarding inadequate bin store capacity, which is now being actively addressed through proposed remodelling of the central bin store.

We also asked Vivi about potential new investment in the business. Vivi advised that no information is currently available for public release. However, potential investors have visited a number of sites in recent weeks to assess site conditions and understand the level of investment required. As any investment would involve complex legal agreements, changes are unlikely to happen quickly. Nevertheless, Vivi indicated that she hoped further news would be available in the near future.