To bring Grampian Housing Association's year of 40th anniversary celebrations to a rewarding end, the organisation has once again achieved the prestigious Investors in People (IIP) Silver Accreditation. This was the Association's first assessment against the latest IIP framework which sets a new high standard.

Grampian Housing Association has been recognised as an Investor in People for 15 years and was first awarded Silver Accreditation in 2013.

Commenting on the award, Malcolm McNeil, Director of Corporate Services at Grampian Housing Association, said, "We have always acknowledged the importance of staff training and reap the benefits of our significant investment in learning and development, particularly in empowering staff to be innovative, take on new roles and embrace change.

"Grampian Housing Association strives to be an employer of choice and values its committed workforce. Long service awards have been presented to 56 staff since introducing the scheme last year, representing a combined total of 715 years' continuous service.

"For an employer it is extremely encouraging when staff comment that the Association is a great place to work and feel they are making a difference to people's lives."

Investors in People is the most successful framework for business improvement through people in the UK and Grampian Housing Association is part of an exclusive group of UK employers eligible to use the sought after logo and enjoy its benefits. This represents a true commitment to employees and demonstrates a solid foundation of good practice which remains challenging and aspirational for many organisations.

Peter Russian, Chief Executive of Investors in People Scotland, said "This is a fantastic achievement for Grampian Housing Association. I would like to congratulate the organisation and its people on their commitment to continuous improvement. Investors in People offers a flexible, practical and easy to use business improvement tool designed to help organisations and their people achieve their objectives. I hope that more organisations in the area will be encouraged to sharpen their competitive edge by choosing to work with us."

With over 100 staff and three offices, Grampian Housing Association is the largest housing association based in the North East of Scotland. The Association provides a range of services to over 3,500 households including housing, estate and property management as well as money advice and housing support.

In response to increasing demand for affordable homes for working families, Grampian Housing Association is one of a number of social landlords promoting Build to Rebuild, a housing manifesto for the North East. Through this document the next Holyrood Government is being strongly urged to commit more investment for new affordable housing in the region in recognition that economic growth is highly dependent on this provision.

Additional funding would complement the Association's own development programme of 200 new build homes over the next five years.