Behind the scenes: what it really takes to keep guardians safe

No two weeks the same

“Each week really varies, which is one of the reasons I love my role,” Tom says. He heads up Dot Dot Dot’s compliance, repairs and mobilisation functions. This combination means his attention is pulled in different directions depending on what any given week demands. Client meetings, change projects, urgent requests for information.

“Some things stay the same from week to week, though. I always like to check in with my team and hear what they got up to over the weekend. Thursdays are our team office day (plus a monthly team breakfast), and every day has its own routines to make sure nothing gets missed. The team will tell you I’m the epitome of a list person – there’s a fresh to-do list every morning.”

What compliance actually means

The word compliance can sound, well, dry. What it means in practice is rather more significant. Tom explains: “Managing our compliance function means ensuring that Dot Dot Dot meets, and often exceeds, the legal and best practice requirements for the housing sector.” That covers gas and electrical safety, asbestos monitoring, fire safety, emergency lighting, risk assessments, and the swift handling of any disrepair that could pose a health risk to guardians.

“I spend time looking for trends or risks we should be aware of, as well as changes to legislation. My team and I work hard to ensure there are no gaps in our coverage, so we can be confident that our properties are safe for our guardians to live in.”

The unglamorous bits

Not everything about the job is systems and certification. There’s a side to it that doesn’t make it onto any list.

“There’s the very un-glamorous and occasionally grimy side to our work — checking out properties that may have sat empty for some time, some of which will be suffering from neglect, to scope out what we need to do to bring them up to a great standard for our guardians…We have encountered many a pigeon.”

And then there are the keys. Managing a large number of them (none labelled with an address, for obvious security reasons) is, he says, one of the most challenging elements of the job. . “Luckily we have a talented and resourceful team who can be relied upon to find an ingenious solution when an issue crops up. I’m always impressed at how smoothly problems are resolved.”

The guardian behind every case

During his first week at Dot Dot Dot, he took a call from a guardian about a water leak. He worked with the team to get it resolved quickly, then followed up to make sure nothing had been missed.

“It made such a difference to her that the problem was dealt with quickly,” he says. “Since then I have always borne in mind that behind every case in our system is a guardian who needs our support.”

It’s a principle that shapes everything he does, because much of his team’s work is invisible to the people it protects. “Our work is a constant collaboration with our clients and contractors, involving a healthy amount of logistics, communication and careful planning. A lot of what goes on behind the scenes isn’t obvious to our guardians.”

Fifteen years of raising the bar

Over the past fifteen years, the compliance landscape has changed significantly and Tom sees that as progress.

“The compliance and regulatory side of guardianship has become much more complex over the last 15 years, which we welcome. With each passing year we are required to meet higher standards in an increasingly wide range of compliance areas.” Where specialist knowledge is needed, the team brings in expert partners rather than assume they have all the answers in-house.

When asked to point to a moment that captures why he does the job, he reaches not for a single instance but for a place: the South Kilburn estate in Queen’s Park. Since 2023, when the London Borough of Brent asked Dot Dot Dot to expand its presence in the area, the transformation has been gradual but striking.

“Getting those properties set up was a challenging project and difficult work,” Tom says. “But it was well worth doing. I feel very proud to see the impact our work is having in many areas, but I’m particularly proud of our impact in Queen’s Park.”