Customer Care at the Heart of Retrofit:
A Journey Supporting Residents Through Change

For Rebecca, National Customer Care Manager at Fortem Solutions, a career in retrofit and customer care was never something she’d carefully mapped out from the beginning. Instead, it evolved naturally through years of working closely with residents, supporting communities and helping people to navigate change within their homes.

Today, Rebecca provides national leadership and governance of customer care across Fortem’s Capital and Retrofit programmes, helping ensure a consistent customer experience across projects nationwide. Her role focuses on performance, continuous improvement and championing the customer voice throughout the business.

“My move into the green sector has really been a natural progression through my role,” Rebecca explains.

Earlier in her career, much of the work centred around more traditional capital works programmes, including elemental replacements and planned maintenance. However, as the industry increasingly shifted towards retrofit and sustainability, her role evolved alongside it.

“Supporting residents through those changes and helping them understand the benefits has made me realise how important this work is,” she says.

Starting on the frontline

Rebecca’s career began many years ago as a Tenant Liaison Officer, working directly with residents while improvement works were carried out to their homes.

“That’s where I really found my passion for the role,” she reflects. “Being the link between the customer and the delivery team.”

From there, she progressed into a Customer Liaison Officer role with Willmott Dixon, gaining further experience supporting residents through large-scale projects and learning first-hand the importance of communication, trust and empathy in customer-facing delivery.

Over time, those frontline experiences naturally developed into leadership responsibilities, eventually leading to her current national role supporting teams across the business.

“Having started on the front line has given me a real appreciation for the challenges our teams face,” she explains. “That’s something I carry with me every day when supporting them now.”

Learning through experience

Rebecca is open about the fact that her route into the industry was not a traditional one.

“I actually left school with no formal qualifications and no clear idea of what I wanted to do,” she says candidly.

Rather than formal education shaping her career, Rebecca credits hands-on experience, learning on the job and developing strong people skills as the foundations of her success.

“I more or less fell into it,” she explains. “But once I started working as a Tenant Liaison Officer, everything just clicked.”

Her journey, she believes, demonstrates that there is no single route into housing, retrofit or customer care.

“It’s been more about experience, learning on the job and developing people skills rather than following a traditional path,” she says.

A role built around people

As National Customer Care Manager, Rebecca’s days are rarely predictable.

“No two days are ever the same,” she says.

Her role involves working closely with teams across the business, supporting Customer Liaison Officers and operational teams while helping drive continuous improvements in customer experience.

“One minute I’m keeping up to speed with feedback, challenges and opportunities, and the next I’m politely keeping our operational delivery teams on their toes,” she laughs.

At the heart of the role, however, is a clear purpose: ensuring customers feel informed, supported and reassured throughout their retrofit journey.

“It’s all about making sure our customers feel informed, supported and confident throughout the process,” she explains.

Leadership through support and collaboration

Over the years, Rebecca has developed a leadership style rooted in communication, empathy and collaboration.

“The main skills I use are strong communication and people skills,” she explains. “Being able to work with residents, CLOs and operational teams in the right way.”

Problem-solving, organisation and confidence have also become essential parts of her role, particularly when managing multiple projects and supporting teams through challenges.

However, for Rebecca, empathy remains the most important quality.

“Understanding the customer’s point of view and making sure they feel supported is key,” she says.

Stepping into leadership roles also brought new challenges, particularly learning to guide and support others rather than always doing the work herself.

“Giving up a bit of that day-to-day control wasn’t always easy,” she admits.

But by continuing to learn, trusting her teams and stepping outside of her comfort zone, she gradually built confidence in her leadership abilities.

Supporting customers through change

Working within retrofit has given Rebecca a unique perspective on how the sector is evolving.

“The retrofit sector is still learning and evolving,” she explains. “But over the next few years I think it will become more standardised, more customer-focused and more confident in delivery.”

For Rebecca, one of the most important areas of progress is improving communication with residents and making retrofit easier for customers to understand.

“I’m most interested in improvements that make retrofit easier to understand for customers and more efficient for teams on the ground,” she says.

As more homes undergo energy efficiency upgrades, Rebecca believes customer support and communication will become increasingly important in ensuring successful delivery and long-term trust in the sector.

Representation and opportunities for women

Rebecca believes progress has been made in improving representation for women across housing, construction and retrofit, although challenges remain.

“There are some fantastic women in customer-facing and leadership roles,” she says. “But the wider construction and retrofit sector can still be quite male-dominated, particularly in operational and technical teams.”

Encouragingly, she believes the industry is beginning to shift.

“There’s much more focus now on inclusion, opportunity and creating clear progression routes,” she explains.

To continue attracting more women and girls into green careers, Rebecca believes visibility and representation are critical.

“We need to improve visibility, promote role models, engage earlier in education and create clear, inclusive progression pathways,” she says.

Inspired by resilience

When reflecting on the people who have influenced her most, Rebecca points to the support and example of those closest to her.

“I’ve been inspired by my mum, who is a strong, independent business owner,” she says. “She’s always shown me what hard work, resilience and determination look like.”

She also credits her husband, who works within the industry, for providing ongoing support and encouragement throughout her career.

“Having that understanding and encouragement at home has made a huge difference to my journey,” she explains.

Looking ahead

What continues to motivate Rebecca is the knowledge that her work has a real impact on both customers and colleagues.

“Knowing that what we do has a real impact keeps me driven,” she says.

With retrofit and sustainability continuing to grow across the housing sector, she remains optimistic about the future and the opportunities ahead.

“There’s so much opportunity to improve, innovate and shape how things are done going forward,” she explains.

For anyone considering a similar career path, Rebecca’s advice is simple.

“Don’t be scared to move out of your comfort zone,” she says. “Take opportunities when they come, even if you don’t feel 100% ready.”

Experience, she believes, builds confidence over time.

“Be willing to learn, ask questions and trust that you’ll grow along the way.”