London-based housing association and care provider Central and Cecil (C&C) has achieved the prestigious We invest in people, gold accreditation award.

The accreditation, an upgrade of C&C’s silver level status, was awarded during the most challenging time in the organisation’s 95-year history which has included navigating through the Covid-19 pandemic and successfully merging with Aster Group.

C&C achieved an overall benchmark score of 766 out of a possible 900 – significantly higher than the average benchmark scores for both the Housing Association Real Estate sector (724) and the Investors in People community more generally (727).

Accreditors found that C&C colleagues ‘lived and breathed’ its organisation values, with management praised for their open and honest communications and engendering high levels of trust.

Julia Ashley, Managing Director of C&C & Over 55s Care & Housing Lead across Aster Group said: “To be successfully assessed and awarded Investors in People Gold status given the unprecedented period of change, the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, and our merging with Aster Group is testament to the incredible work of our colleagues across all teams at C&C. Colleagues at C&C truly live and breathe our five core values, making such a positive an impact to our residents and in our communities.”

Tim Michaelsen, Director of Integration & Change, Aster Group said: “Only 17% of around 15,000 organisations achieve gold accreditation, and this indeed is the first time we have achieved the Gold accreditation since our association with Investors in People in 1998. It demonstrates how we have developed a well-skilled and highly-engaged workforce that deliver business success and great service to our residents and, following our recent merger with Aster Group completed in January 2022, we anticipate scaling new heights in the coming months and years.”

Paul Devoy, CEO of Investors in People, said: “We’d like to congratulate C&C on this award. Gold accreditation on We invest in people is a fantastic effort for any organisation, and places C&C in fine company with a host of organisations that understand the value of people.”