Derwentside Homes named Durham & Wearside Company of the Year

Published by Kelly Elliott for Derwentside Homes Ltd in Housing and also in Communities

A housing association has beaten off competition from a host of North East businesses to be crowned Company of the Year during the sub-regional heat of a prestigious awards event.

Derwentside Homes picked up the top award at the Durham & Wearside North East Business Awards, organised by the Journal and Evening Gazette newspapers, in association with the North East Chamber of Commerce.

The organisation, which was also named winner of the Heart of the Community award, will now go up against winners from Teesside, Tyneside and Northumberland in the grand final next moth.

Derwentside Homes, which owns and manages more than 6,700 properties across North Durham, impressed judges with its efficiency-focused approach, which has enabled it to make significant investments in its homes and local communities.

The association also won praise for its range of innovative community projects which have helped improve the lives of its tenants and the wider population.

These include helping to set up a new credit union, launching a weekly payment furniture scheme, setting up a telephone befriending service for isolated elderly residents and helping local people find employment and training opportunities.

The awards were presented during a ceremony at Sunderland AFC’s Stadium of Light on Thursday night (7th March).

More than 80 finalists attended the event covering a wide range of sectors, from small start-up business to some of the biggest industrial names in the North East.

Brian Aitken, editor of the Journal, said: “There were hundreds of entries again this year for the North East’s biggest corporate awards.

“These awards are a great opportunity for us to celebrate and recognise the success of other companies that have defied the downturn to grow, innovate, find new markets, win new customers and create wealth and jobs in this region.”

Derwentside Homes’ Chief Executive Geraldine Wilcox said: “This is a fantastic achievement, especially when you consider the calibre of the other entries we were up against.

“These awards are testament to the hard work of all our staff, tenants and Board members and they should feel rightly proud of what we have achieved at Derwentside Homes over the last six years.”