Animal magic

"We've shaken the sleeping tiger by the shoulder, and now we're tweaking its nose," says Paul Tennant, the new chief executive of Orbit Housing Association. His tone may be light-hearted but his intention is perfectly serious: the slumbering feline is Orbit and waking it up is Tennant's self-appointed challenge since taking up his post in April.

Coventry-based Orbit, he says, once lived up to its soaraway name, blazing a trail across the sector with innovations such as its early adoption of a group structure. But in recent years, Orbit's aspirations have been grounded, its profile has sunk and innovations in development and services have been left to others. "In the past three to four years, the organisation had become quite insular," Tennant says. "We were just not perceived as contributing to the sector."

Tennant believes the group's underlying strengths are still in place, thanks to its large portfolio – 25,000 homes in the Midlands and Kent – and the investment opportunities opened up by a £342m refinancing package.

What Orbit needs now is "a calm sense of purpose" that will give it the self-confidence to act strategically rather than reactively, and allow the whole to become more than the sum of its parts (a general needs core in the Midlands, two ex-transfer associations in north Kent and the shared-ownership subsidiary Orbit First Step).

Once the sleeping tiger roars again, Tennant hopes it will be heard by registered social landlords, local authorities and private developers looking for proactive joint-venture partners, and perhaps even by potential new members of Orbit Group. At the moment, it is welcoming Thanet Housing Association, a 2600-home transfer association that chose Orbit as its group partner from a "longlist" of 10 associations. "It's a recognition of what Orbit has to offer," he says. "If we're good at what we do, people will want to work with us."

Tennant arrives at Orbit with a track record in boosting self-esteem at troubled associations. He was managing director at English Churches from 1997 to 2000, a period when it was coping with the departure of its chief executive and the ill-fated redevelopment of Birmingham Children's Hospital. He followed this with the chief executive's role at 4000-home Leeds Federated, another ex-supervisee, and was a Housing Corporation troubleshooter at Oldham-based Selhal Housing last summer.

Tennant grew up in a neighbourly mining community in Sunderland and now wears his North-east accent as a talisman of its supportive ethos wherever he goes. "It's one of my ambitions in life never to lose my accent," he says. "Where I come from is quite important to me. It defines a lot about you, your characteristics, your approaches to life."

A housing specialist who knows Tennant describes him as having "no chief executive super-ego problems. He's well-liked, well-regarded and engaged with the sector."

As a sector, it’s important that we’re not seen as flat-footed. The pace of change never slackens and we have to be equally fleet of foot

Tennant's extracurricular roles include a seat on the National Housing Federation's Yorkshire regional committee, and chairmanship of the Housing Action Charitable Trust. HACT director Heather Petch says he has "a cool head in a crisis. He's very focused, empowering and good at motivating. He doesn't get bogged down in detail or politics unnecessarily, but retains a focus and a clear sense of direction."

The plan of action
Orbit's new direction will be outward-facing and Tennant will be taking on an ambassadorial role, establishing better relationships with local authorities, the Housing Corporation, English Partnerships and other agencies. "My impression is that some of the relationships the organisation had could have been better," he says tactfully. He also hopes that Orbit will learn from other organisations while pursuing its own innovations. "We have to learn to be a learning organisation that isn't insular and doesn't think it's got all the answers."

Specific plans include pumping ideas and good practice around the group by transforming irregular meetings of about 40 key managers into an information-sharing network. Tennant also plans to develop Orbit's customer service centre by offering training to staff at other associations, and analysing the data it captures to remodel the delivery of customer services. Finally, funds released by the £342m refinancing will be invested in new services and refurbishments, and could allow Orbit to develop without grant where appropriate.

Orbit's reawakening could be ideally timed to contribute to the Communities Plan in Milton Keynes and the Thames Gateway. Milton Keynes is already part of Orbit's heartland, and the site of an early success: in a bid strongly backed by Tennant in April, Orbit has won the role of lead developer on a scheme of 130 homes for outright sale, shared ownership and rent. Meanwhile, the group's Thanet and Bexley associations give it a local presence in Kent.

As was the case at Milton Keynes, Tennant believes that competing with private developers will be a hallmark of the most innovative future schemes. The Orbit tiger, he stresses, will not be shy about mixing with corporate sharks: "Housing associations can make best use of their borrowing powers, link with other associations, form joint ventures or use unregistered subsidiaries. As a sector, it's important that we're not seen as flat-footed. The pace of change never slackens; we have to be equally fleet of foot."

Leading this team race is clearly going to be no easy task but, says Tennant, it is made easier by the fact that Orbit's staff and managers are ready to have their ideas and established practices tested.