Vero keeps customers afloat

Vero keeps customers afloat

The insurer is providing grants to help SMEs get through the COVID storm

By Miranda Maxwell

NSW-based chocolate manufacturer Praline Holdings was poised to expand to international markets last year when the COVID pandemic dashed its plans with an 83% plunge in sales and cancelled orders.

Fortunately, the chocolatier’s broker, Kim Gilbert at Zenith Insurance Brokers, suggested Praline could apply for a Vero Business Recovery Grant.

Vero was offering $20,000 lifelines to policyholders who were finding the going tough in the pandemic uncertainty.

Praline used the grant to invest in a more advanced production line, allowing it to broaden the variety of its chocolates to bring it into line with the “COVID-normal” economy.

Since that injection of cash Praline has thrived, and Manager Angus Suttie is now optimistic the confectioner can grow sales and markets domestically and abroad.

It’s one example of how Vero is helping besieged Australian businesses, and their brokers, as COVID-induced changes also alter customer behaviour.

Vero established its Business Recovery Grant after the onset of the pandemic last year, with $250,000 in the coffers. Brokers have been encouraged to alert eligible SME businesses to apply for between $5000 and $20,000 to regain market traction.

“To witness first-hand how Vero’s grant has helped Praline to develop new products and markets is truly a remarkable and proud feeling,” Vero Head of Commercial Intermediaries Anthony Pagano said. “Our initiative shows the power of this partnership as Praline recovers and becomes a stronger business in 2021.”

Happy to help: Vero’s Anthony Pagano is proud to have given small businesses a boost

The funds have bailed out SMEs across Australia in a range of industries, with many now thriving or diversifying their business operations thanks to the additional support from Vero.

The grants also helped brokers engage with their clients in new ways as they steer their way out of the pandemic, reconnecting with customers and returning to profitability.

“The goal of the grants was simply to help Australian SMEs doing it tough and provide them with the kickstart needed to help their businesses bounce back,” Mr Pagano says.

“We’re looking forward to continuing to work with and support our brokers, clients and the communities they operate in as we work through the ongoing challenges caused by COVID.”

Certainly Vero is staying upbeat and helping brokers and customers alike to look on the brighter side of life. Mr Pagano’s team has also organised pop-up food events at brokers’ offices, showcasing a range of local fare, as well as baristas, gin and whiskey bars, taco and hamburger food trucks and dessert bars.

Vero has also booked drive-in cinemas across the country and organised family fun nights and gift packages sourced exclusively from Vero customer products. These include baked goods, confectionery, chocolates, beverages…and even a virtual make-up tutorial as brokers were encouraged back into the office.

Vero’s latest initiative is supporting online marketplace platform Buy Aussie Now, a one-stop-shop for local businesses to showcase their wares.

The insurer is the first organisation to back Buy Aussie Now’s Corporate Rewards Program. It sponsored the initiative to the tune of $150,000, with Mr Pagano saying it was a perfect opportunity to support homegrown businesses and the families who run them.

Olympic gold medallist and Buy Aussie Now ambassador Mack Horton welcomed Vero to the project, saying the power to make a difference “is now in our hands. We are proud to team up with Vero to help Aussie businesses thrive and harness broker relationships to make a difference.”

In another Vero grant success story, industrial textile printer firm Impression Technology from Sydney’s Frenchs Forest was helped after it experienced a 70% plunge in sales due to COVID.

“Early in 2020 our business stopped,” Chief Financial Officer Rod Austin said. “There were no sales enquiries.”

Broker Samantha Chan from Scott & Broad suggested a Vero grant application and this allowed Impression to redirect its focus locally and market directly to small businesses and consumers for the first time.

“We used the grant money to introduce new products tailored for this audience, which revitalised the existing range and increased sales leads,” Mr Austin said. “The grant gave Impression Technology the conviction to kickstart 2021 and to get the wheels turning again.”

Another Vero grant was awarded after not-for-profit 1-World Charity Shops was forced to halt expansion in Underwood, Queensland early last year, with border restrictions postponing a new opening while wages and rent costs racked up without projected sales from the additional store.

Ardrossan Insurance Brokers recommended a Vero application and $10,000 was awarded, funding new signage for the eventual store opening, in October.

“The grant fast tracked our ability to recover,” 1-World Chief Executive Matt Dudgeon said. “The opening exceeded everyone’s expectations and smashed previous records”.