Bield has launched a new strategy to support its staff across Scotland, while highlighting investment in technology and services designed to help older tenants live independently.
The housing and support provider unveiled its People Strategy 2026–2030 at its 2026 annual general meeting in Edinburgh. Shaped by employee feedback, it aims to strengthen connections among colleagues working across 21 local authority areas.
The strategy sets out six priorities: workforce planning, leadership, skills and capability, culture and inclusion, employee experience, and digital innovation. Bield said it supports its wider ambition to improve outcomes for older people.
Nicola Ritchie, Bield’s Director of People and Digital, said: “Our new People Strategy reflects what our colleagues have told us matters to them and recognises the value that comes from the skills, experience and the ideas gained from the people working in many different roles across our communities.”
She added: “We want everyone to feel valued, connected and able to help us deliver on Bield’s wider strategic ambition, providing homes and support that will help older people to live well and independently in their own homes for longer.”
Staff and board members at the AGM were also introduced to TSA’s Virtual Home, an immersive learning platform that lets participants explore how technology could support people in their homes. Bield plans to use insights from the platform to identify technologies that could benefit tenants.
Reflecting on 2025/26, Bield said it had developed an Independent Living Approach and invested £19m to support tenants to live independently, including £0.6m in technology. It also completed 189 home adaptations, introduced Community Cafés and Independent Living Hubs to help reduce isolation, and secured £1.3m in additional benefits for tenants through its Income Advice Officers.
Debbie Collins, Bield’s Chief Executive, said: “Bield’s AGM showcased how our amazing people across Scotland deliver our ambition for independent living for older people across Scotland.”
She added: “The independent living approach is central to all our work; this is about much more than homes and technology, it is Bield’s commitment to ensuring we support tenants to feel connected, to have choices, to be listened to and to have the right support at the right time.”
Bield said it would now focus on strengthening tenant engagement and continuing to invest in technology and partnerships as it embeds the approach across its services.
