Thirteen appoints new chief customer officer

Thirteen has appointed a new chief customer officer.

Serena Heathcote, who is currently director of customer experience at Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTVH), will join the Teesside-based housing association in February.

She will lead the 36,000-home provider’s customer experience, repairs, property compliance, housing and specialist housing functions. 

“I am delighted to be joining Thirteen Group to help shape its strategic direction and strengthen its sector position,” she said.

“I’m looking forward to leading a thriving and passionate customer operation, ensuring we have happy customers that trust us.

At MTVH, Heathcote led the implementation of an income replacement system that improved arrears performance and embedded a new CRM system that provided a single view of the customer.

Prior to this role, she was customer operations director at E.ON Next and spent more than a decade at Barclays.

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Thirteen’s Chief Executive, Matt Forrest, said: “Serena has extensive experience in regulated environments including financial services, energy, and social housing, and has led face to face, digital and online teams ranging from 30 to over 3,000 colleagues.

“We were impressed by her focus on customer advocacy and trust, experience of transformation and data-led decision making.”