58 - Communications during a crisis with Sally Thomas and Chris Fairbairn

“In crisis situations, don't try and save face in front of us. Tell us the warts and all. Tell us the reality of the situation here. If we're going in with one hand tied behind our back, then it isn't going to end well.”

In this episode of the Scottish Housing News Podcast, Kieran Findlay and Jimmy Black discuss the value of effective communications in the social housing sector with Sally Thomas, the chief executive at the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, and Chris Fairbairn, an associate director at public relations consultancy Holyrood PR.

Social landlords have great stories to tell and its important to raise the reputation of your association and your work.

But what about when things aren’t going so well? The increased expectations of social landlords today bring ever-heightened scrutiny, and couple that with a cost of living crisis and a housing emergency then communicating the right message to the right people is crucial.

Listen to the guests share their insights on managing expectations against budget pressures, how landlords can recover their reputation amid a housing emergency and whether the ‘black arts’ are still practised by today’s PR companies.

A transcript of this episode is available here: https://www.scottishhousingnews.com/articles/communications-during-a-crisis-podcast-transcript

Jimmy Black has written a blog to accompany this episode here: https://www.scottishhousingnews.com/articles/blacks-blog-if-you-put-peoples-backs-up-they-go-to-the-papers

Kieran Findlay is the editor of Scottish Housing News. Jimmy Black is a former Dundee housing convener and housing justice campaigner.

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