Modern Insurance Magazine - handl Group Supplement

We handl it all.

Graham Pulford, Chief Executive Officer of handl Group, tells MIM about his hand in handl Group’s growth strategy, and what he hopes to achieve as the Group continues to expand and introduce new players.

Trust us to handl it.

We draw on an unparalleled blend of expertise and knowledge, making it easier for organisations in the legal, insurance and healthcare sectors to operate seamlessly.

We add value, we innovate and we maintain the highest standards, creating disruptive ideas that shape the market.

We handl it all. Call us on 03300 947 346 or email info@handlgroup.co.uk handlgroup.co.uk

Welcome Welcome to a very special Modern Insurance supplement – the result of a fantastic collaboration with handl Group that presents their portfolio of businesses in the legal, insurance and healthcare sectors.

Drawing on an unparalleled blend of expertise and knowledge, handl Group is dedicated to providing services that make outsourcing simple. Whether it’s managing supply chains, providing claims management solutions or improving cost efficiencies, their brands deliver bespoke solutions that make a real difference. handl is home to industry-leading independent organisations, providing them with an environment where they can flourish. It is a growing group, with new ventures always on the cards. We have a series of interviews from the Group’s brands – Coplus, Corporé, The Treatment Network, Speed Medical, EQL, MLA, Foresight and Harrison Associates – plus an interview from Graham Pulford, Chief Executive Officer of handl Group, and Chris Chatterton, handl Group’s Chief Commercial Officer. The growth strategy of handl was an important element of this supplement, and both Graham, Chris and the team, told us what they hope to achieve as handl continues to expand and introduce new players, as well as their mission to add value, innovate and maintain the highest standards while creating disruptive ideas that shape the market.

Overall, this collection of service brands is dedicated to the growth of its customers, and they will be continuing to leverage the synergies across the portfolio to unlock the incremental value they can provide to handl customers.

Contents 4

A growing group

Modern Insurance spoke to Graham Pulford, Chief Executive Officer of handl Group, about his hand in handl Group’s growth strategy, and what he hopes to achieve as the Group continues to expand and introduce new players.

8

Marketing success

Speaking to Chris Chatterton, handl Group’s Chief Commercial Officer, we heard about his role in the partnerships and acquisition strategy of the Group, and what he hopes each company will extract from being part of this portfolio of brands.

10 Introducing the brands 12 Success for Tripp

Coplus’s, Managing Director, Jason Tripp, discusses how he came to handl Group and the reasons for the company’s success now and in the future as part of the group.

15 Working together

Modern Insurance spoke to Mark Stirrup, Managing Director, and Emma Thomson, Head of Operations, at Corporé and The Treatment Network, about the future, on-going growth plans for the business and the decisions behind their strategy.

20 Driving operational success

Drawing on over eighteen years’ experience in the Medio-Legal Industry, Susan Henry, Operations Director at Speed Medical, has a wealth of valuable industry knowledge and is well-versed in the areas of service delivery and operational processes. Here she speaks to Modern Insurance about Speed Medical’s operational success and future plans.

22 Accessing healthcare should be EQL to all

Laying out his vision for EQL, a start-up that is embracing emerging technologies in order to reinvent healthcare, Jason Ward, Co-Founder, told Modern Insurance about his journey as a start-up and what’s next for the project.

24 The MLA Way

Speaking to Mike Shallcross, Head of Operations at Medical Legal Appointments (MLA), Modern Insurance found out about MLA’s future growth plans and why he believes MLA’s employees are their greatest strength.

26 New to the block

Poppy Green Editor Modern Insurance Magazine 01765 600909 @Modern_Poppy poppy@charltongrant.co.uk

As the latest acquisition of handl Group, Niccola Irwin, Managing Director at Harrisons Associates, discusses her delight at joining such a strong group that shares their commitment to service excellence.

29 Foresight

Modern Insurance spoke to Susan Henry, Operations Director, Foresight, about the company’s exciting growth plans for this year, and how the partnership with handl Group has enabled further opportunity for investment and innovation in technology, taking the business to the next level.

handl Group Supplement | 3

A growing group Modern Insurance spoke to Graham Pulford, Chief Executive Officer of handl Group, about his hand in handl Group’s growth strategy, and what he hopes to achieve as the Group continues to expand and introduce new players.

MIM: Tell us about the early Graham Pulford and what brought you to where you are now?

GP: My background is IT. I’m unashamedly an IT geek.

I love all things IT and technical and that’s been the basis of my career from the early days to now. I started in IT services working across a number of different companies in very different markets, from a wire manufacturer to a POS company. I joined an insurance company in a senior role, and during my time there took them through the infamous Y2K project, one of the biggest IT projects ever – which actually turned out to be one big anti-climax!

MIM: What was the route into your current board level role across IT and operational corporates?

GP: IT flows through everything I do and there’s nothing I enjoy more than looking at a complex or meandering problem and finding a straight line solution. But I’m also very grounded and over the years I’ve developed the ability to balance the pure IT aspects of a project or strategy with the commercial demands a business faces. So now, I’ll sit in a handl Group meeting alternating between my IT geek and uncompromising business heads. And a phrase I use all the time is about making each business in the Group the “lowest cost operator” in their different sectors, to extract maximum profitability by providing the absolute highest quality of service at the height of efficiency. And that’s key to our growth success, and it’s what excites me and makes me tick.

MIM: How has the role of IT within handl, and the sector/industry in general, evolved over the last 5 years?

GP: Within handl and the Group portfolio of companies there’s been significant progress, but also lots of challenges, in improving the role of technology in the Group. For example, when acquiring an established business, one of the biggest IT concerns is the constraints of legacy systems, i.e. not having a clean sheet to work with. So managing and getting the most out of inherited systems requires adapting the best of their existing systems and integrating them with the handl way of doing things, to ensure a seamless, but more efficient, transition for customers and suppliers.

With our recent acquisition of Harrison’s we’re going through that operational efficiency exercise now.

The customer journey is key to the systems we

4 | handl Group Supplement

What I love is buying a business that we’ve identified as a good business, then going through the process of integration, and it turning out better than we initially thought

develop and I see ‘tech’ as an enabler. We run portals across all our businesses and all who interface with them, customers and suppliers. We’ve developed mobile apps to interface with everything we do and there are two key reasons for this. One, because people like to self-serve nowadays. For example, we all like to book our flights online rather than visiting a travel agent. And two, it drives process efficiency for people to quickly input their own data, rather than the lengthier older ways of letters, phone calls, and even more recently email. So, yes, by making that interface as simple and user-friendly as possible, it’s a win-win for us and our customers.

Because we’re a b2b portfolio of companies we also concentrate on integrating our systems with those of our customers. For example, Speed Medical has full customer integration with its solicitor customers and Coplus with its broker customers. And the more we invest heavily in joined up systems throughout all our business operations, the efficiencies we gain from it contribute to the ‘lowest cost operator’ philosophy.

MIM: Is operational resilience an IT priority?

GP: This is the self-answering question, and the answer is a big ‘yes’. We’re in a world where our financial services are outsourced. We’re not a manufacturer, we have no machinery that requires maintaining. Our assets, our ‘machine’, is our technology and our people, and we have to constantly oil that through investment in our people, our processes and our technology – and

it needs to keep going 24/7 in today’s demanding business environment. So it’s crucial to continued success across the handl Group that operational resilience is spot on!

MIM: You’ve been described as a visionary behind the handl Group’s growth strategy – how important has growth through acquisition been?

GP: I don’t know if the visionary comment came from someone within the Group, but I’d like to give them a pay rise! Historically, we grew organically by looking at how to do things right and well. I might have wanted to acquire companies 10 years ago, but we didn’t have the money in the bank to go out and do it. So if we wanted to accelerate growth organically into new market areas it took time doing it all ourselves. Now we’re profitably trading, we’ve built up a war chest of cash, for want of a better phrase, to buy other companies. So it’s been an evolutionary process. But over the last few years we’ve been able to acquire synergistic businesses to accelerate growth.

Growth throughout next year will be about 50-50, 50% organic 50% acquisition. We are still heavily invested in organic growth as we firmly believe there are many more organic growth opportunities in the markets we currently operate in. But we’ll be adding other businesses into the portfolio as well during that process.

MIM: How do you identify companies to add to the Group?

GP: Historically, it was more of an ad hoc process and acquisitions were opportunistic in many cases.

Sometimes it was simply someone who knew someone in that space and, because each of our portfolio brands are experts in their field, they knew all the key players. Now, it’s a different approach where we look specifically and analytically at companies of interest within identified market sectors who could add a lot to the Group. So acquisitions now are less ad hoc and this more formalised process is what drives handl’s acquisitional growth moving forward.

The customer journey is key to the systems we develop and I see ‘tech’ as an enabler

handl Group Supplement | 5

Our assets, our ‘machine’, is our technology and our people, and we have to constantly oil that through investment in our people, our processes and our technology – and it needs to keep going 24/7 in today’s demanding business environment MIM: Have your approaches largely been met positively?

GP: Yes. there’s an interesting psychology to acquisitions. Initially, most companies love the flattery of an approach and want to be part of the handl Group – but their price expectations can be excessive, which is just the cut and thrust of business, so we probably complete on 20% of those we approach. For that reason we keep our pipeline of acquisitions quite high to ensure that only truly compatible businesses join the Group.

MIM: What is your diversification strategy for handl?

GP: Our diversification strategy is based on only adding companies that enhance and expand the products and services already offered by the Group. I’m not going to go out and buy a chain of Turkish barbers; that’s just too far from our core business. But, take the Corporé business we bought. They used to buy physiotherapy at a certain price, but post-integration into the Group, Speed Medical uses its buying power to provide that physiotherapy to Corporé, effectively reducing the purchase price because Speed buys a lot more. It works in the same way with Coplus and Speed Medical in the supply of medical reports to solicitors. Therefore, it’s a synergistic diversification strategy to ensure that not only do we buy a great businesses, we then get the additional bonus of being able to reduce costs to become the ‘lowest cost operator’ for that business.

MIM: When building a portfolio of brands what has been your mantra?

GP: What’s interesting, to us anyway, is that as a management team we don’t only buy successful businesses. We also look at businesses that are good, or solid, but aren’t necessarily performing to their potential. What I personally also look for in a business is it core, its heart, and if that looks strong and we can identify the reasons for its lack of performance, we can fix those and create value quite quickly. And having fixed the business the next thing is to return to our mantra of the ‘lowest cost operator’ model to make it really efficient.

MIM: How important is brand synergy within the growing handl portfolio ?

GP: Brand synergy isn’t actually top of the list, because we’re a portfolio company rather than an

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amalgamation. So what’s key for me in the businesses that we buy is that we’re buying specialist operators in a sector space, and it’s the portfolio brand that’s more important than the handl brand. Customers contract with the portfolio member, so we’re spending time on making their brands stronger rather than suddenly giving them a handl identity. People do buy brands and, for example, they know who Coplus is and what they do, so if it suddenly became handl there can be negative repercussions when people are faced with brand confusion. And whilst the handl brand is important, it’s an enabler brand and I can’t really see us going out and selling anything by handl because it will always be one of the companies in the portfolio that provides the services. handl doesn’t actually do any work! I always say we rely on all these other businesses to do that, which is the key in terms of moving forward MIM: When it comes to handl’s success what gives you the most satisfaction/are you most proud of?

GP: What I love is buying a business that we’ve identified as a good business, then going through the process of integration, and it turning out better than we initially thought. And, whether luck or good management, that’s happened with most of our acquisitions. So, from my personal point of view, I say that’s what I want to do and I think it will mean ‘this’ to us, but if it then turns out be ‘this+1’ then that’s very satisfying.

Also, now that we’re formalising the handl brand and its potential, we’re finding that our portfolio businesses are fully understanding the way the Group supports them and helps them to grow. And I think if you question each of our brands in a year’s time, they’ll really appreciate being part of the handl Group, both from business and personal aspects, and that gives me a lot of satisfaction.

MIM: Finally… What do you see as the ‘finish line’ for handl?

GP: There isn’t one at the moment. We’re at the start of a curve. We’ve got really interesting businesses in the group. We’re going to be adding more. They will grow quite significantly over the next two years.

Currently, we’re looking at our next two year business plan which will reveal some really interesting initiatives.

I’m not looking beyond that yet but I will do in 18 months’ time. Of course we have to deliver first but we’ve always done what we said we were going to do.

We’re quite a large business now and we’re going to be double our size in a couple of years but that doesn’t faze me. And what I want to do is focus 100% on delivering that. So that’s where we’re heading.

Graham Pulford

is the Chief Executive Officer of handl Group.

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Marketing success

Speaking to Chris Chatterton, handl Group’s Chief Commercial Officer, we heard about his role in the partnerships and acquisition strategy of the Group, and what he hopes each company will extract from being part of this portfolio of brands.

MIM: How did your early roles in marketing influence your career path into insurance?

CC: Interesting question – how did I get into insurance? As often happens in careers, my route wasn’t exactly planned. I did a science degree at university, and then spent a year on an industrial placement studying for a PhD. During that time I realised science wasn’t for me! By its nature, research tends to be repetitious and things must be proven statistically. Let’s say my work ‘lacked consistency’ and so I fell out of love with science.

I then started on a graduate training scheme at Tate & Lyle, which involved a bit of everything but the thing I really loved was marketing. I stuck with that and ever since I’ve worked in and around marketing and business development. When I left Tate & Lyle, my first mainstream marketing job was with the RAC, where I worked on its key B2B offerings, including those to the motor insurance market. I then moved to become Marketing Director at Carter & Carter, and

As with any successful and growing organisation there are key commercial challenges to face when taking the business forward

8 | handl Group Supplement

looked after their insurer consulting and outsourcing programmes with AXA, RSA and Eagle Star, amongst others. And so I entered the motor insurance world, and that’s how I’m here today!

MIM: How has your previous experience in strategic acquisitions and developing strategic partnerships helped you accelerate the development of handl and its portfolio brands?

CC: Following my time at Carter & Carter and then CCC International, a claims solution provider to European Insurers, I spent one year running a business angel investment fund. As a result, I came to understand that investing in and buying companies is not just about ideas, products and services, it’s also very much about the team of people who run the business. You need to understand how capable a management team is and how they’re able to do things differently and, importantly, you need to grow at an increased rate. To understand what you’re getting into with a business, you also need to know the dynamics of the market where they trade. We focus on markets we know and where we understand the upcoming opportunities and challenges. You always need to be mindful of what could go wrong with any investment and be mindful of the risks you are taking.

So handl is a portfolio manager that’s not simply an investment company per se. We invest in businesses we understand, in sectors that are related to ours, and we apply our operational management and business development expertise based on shared customers to help the business grow. We categorise the companies in the portfolio in terms of the markets they face – insurance, legal and healthcare,

for example – and we’re planning to add a corporate arm into the portfolio in the coming year.

All are independent but work collaboratively. handl’s role is to coordinate this collaboration, so the portfolio is not a group of disparate companies. handl is the glue that develops shared opportunities and integrates the portfolio of companies so they can work together as well as autonomously to achieve better outcomes for shared customers.

MIM: Is maintaining a consistent trajectory of growth key to your role – and how does that impact on your day-to-day workload?

CC: For us, it’s about having lots of irons in the fire but to keep the trajectory constant we have to work out how best to prioritise our objectives and where to apply our resources. Obviously, not everything works and some things work better than expected. Equally, unexpected ‘events’ happen that mean you have to re-deploy resources.

Consequently, it’s a constant process of evaluating what is in front of you and being clearheaded in your decision-making.

Over the last six months, I’ve spent a lot of time out in the market, across the different handl Group businesses, networking and talking about opportunities, as well as gathering information on potential strategic partnerships.

Consequently, we now have a strong pipeline of opportunities to pursue. Again, it’s a question of rationally prioritising the ones with the best fit and greatest likely returns.

It’s an iterative process. We constantly rate and rank all of our opportunities and act accordingly.

MIM: Is providing bespoke solutions critical to the success of handl brands?

CC: Understanding our insurer customer’s requirements is critical.

We only think about solutions that clearly address current and future customer needs. In this regard, one of our key considerations is how we can combine offers from different handl businesses to create unique customer propositions.

An example would be the third party capture proposition that combines outbound calling and repair management from Coplus with bodily injury treatment services from The Treatment Network. We can then further overlay things like digital healthcare solutions to create really interesting solutions for our insurer customers in terms of reduced OpEx, indemnity spend savings and an improved customer journey. The focus is always trying to consistently make 2 + 2 = 5 and to offer something unique.

MIM: What are the key commercial challenges to taking the handl Group forward?

CC: The first I think is integrating digital solutions with more traditional supply chains. There are many situations where digital solutions in isolation are only partly an answer and we need to address this. An example would be the use of self-service treatment solutions such as apps or online tools. This only really works when teamed with an effective triage of the customer in the first place, machine learning, so that the solution improves how it offers services to the client based on historic outcomes - and with the back up of a physical network of medical professionals, the right support can be provided where a technological solution isn’t appropriate.

MIM: As technology has taken over from manual systems, what innovations have online, digital and analytics brought?

CC: Technology’s great and we’ve made great strides in its day-to-day use, but not everyone engages with it.

We still need people and the personal touch to provide expertise where it’s needed as well as reassurance and advice.

We know from our research that not every customer is convinced by digital solutions. We often come across consumers who see them as being less than what they expected to receive – particularly in claims situations. It’s essential users don’t feel short-changed and can access people-based services if and when they want to.

That said, the beauty of many of these systems is that they take the knowledge and expertise of a specialist and organise them into decision trees so that customers really can receive the services that they want. But the people component should never be forgotten.

MIM: Would you say a product-led strategy has been replaced by a customer-centric approach to new and existing business?

CC: We combine both approaches.

On the one hand, we are quite product-led, in that we take an individual idea or product and analyse the market requirements for it, then develop the product until it’s market ready. Part of this process is, naturally, to engage with our customers to ensure we capture their requirements.

A good live example would be the development of our repair proposition within Coplus.

MIM: Finally, a little bit about what makes Chris Chatterton tick outside of handl?

CC: Leeds United!

(Editor’s Note: At this point both interviewer and interviewee discovered their mutual love of Leeds United and the interview concluded with a highly-intellectual exchange of Leeds chat!)

Chris Chatterton

is the Chief Commercial Officer at handl Group.

We have two digital start-ups within handl Group, one being EQL - both look to re-engineer traditional ways of working. In the background, handl Group will provide an integrated medical supply chain to enhance their propositions.

The second is broadening out our FNOL and service deployment capabilities in Coplus to provide a full end-to-end claims solution to service the growing outsourcing requirement across the motor insurance market. Much of this work has already been done and it is now about articulating the benefits to potential customers. We have a strong customer pipeline and it’s a very exciting time.

Each operates within a coordinated structure and handl is the glue that groups and integrates our portfolio of companies so they can work together, as well as independently, to achieve better outcomes for shared customers

handl Group Supplement | 9

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handl Group Supplement | 11

Success for

Tripp Coplus’s, Managing Director, Jason Tripp, discusses how he came to handl Group and the reasons for the company’s success now and in the future as part of the Group.

If there’s one thing Jason Tripp, Managing Director of Coplus, is known for it’s his 100% commitment to taking the company forward. But his introduction to the insurance industry in 1997 came by accident rather than design when he leapt from running bars and restaurants in Manchester, post University, to working for an entrepreneur who had just set up a growing claims handling business. A move which led him onto the insurance path he’s still following 22 years later.

In 2000, Helphire (now Auxillis) moved to buy that company and, although the acquisition didn’t proceed, Jason was head-hunted to join Helphire and remained with the company for eleven years, gaining invaluable and wide-ranging industry experience.

Jason explains: “It was great fun because the company was doubling in size every two years! I worked on major projects, including mergers and acquisitions, with the responsibility for integrating the new firms into Helphire.

But I wanted the opportunity to take the next step up to running a company. I was ambitious – I’m still ambitious

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We pride ourselves on being auditready, which means our door is always open

– but in 2011 the emerging handl Group was looking for people to help diversify its portfolio, and I was aware there was an acquisition on the cards.

Perfect Fit

“With my background in mergers and acquisitions it was a perfect fit, so I joined Chris Chatterton, handl’s CCO, who I’d worked with at Helphire, because I saw that he and Graham Pulford were intent on building something special and I wanted to be a part of that.”

At that time, what is now handl comprised of just two companies: Speed Medical, a medical reporting firm, and Aim Legal Services, a legal expenses provider. And it wasn’t long before Jason’s ambition to run his own company came to fruition.

Jason says: “One of my first assignments at handl was to head up Aim Legal Services. A few years later we acquired a larger version of Aim, operating in a similar market, with the intention of merging the two

companies. That business was Motorplus. Whilst Aim dealt with small independent insurance brokers and Motorplus worked with large household name insurance brokers like Swinton and Paymentshield. By bringing the two together we got the benefit of both worlds and created Coplus. And the icing on the cake for me was getting to run and grow the new company.”

Marriage

He continues: “One of the key aspects, and one of the trickiest, when two companies come together is not simply a matter of the corporate marriage and all that entails from finance to staffing, but crucially, it’s a merging of philosophies and methodologies. I had to quickly assess the relative strengths and weaknesses of the two companies. Then came the task of analysing and satisfying the market requirements with the combined capabilities and assets of the two organisations.”

With the new company up and running, next came the task of strengthening Coplus’s strategic insurer relationships. Coplus is a FNOL (First Notification of Loss) provider, so we are the first people to answer the phone to what can be a pressurised call from an emotional customer who’s suffered a serious problem.

This is a process that demands precise call management skills. Customers need to know and understand what happens next, how they are going to get help, and who’s going to help them. Not only does the customer require sympathetic and efficient handling, but it is also about the brand reputation of the broker and/or insurer in that customer’s view which must also be protected, so transparency of customer action is imperative.

Audit-ready

Jason takes up the story: “The model we’ve built at Coplus is based on transparency. We pride ourselves on being audit-ready, which means our door is always open. There’s a lot of auditing in the insurance business and being truly audit-ready is a must. Many firms deal with this by trying to push for time to prepare as the information isn’t there on a day-to-day basis. But what we say to insurers and brokers is that they can come tomorrow if they want to. It’s a powerful way of demonstrating our transparency and that credibility strengthens and extends our strategic relationships.”

Another key task Jason applied himself to was to broaden the Coplus product portfolio by developing new inhouse claims handling procedures. Initially growing the company was down to strategic planning. Coplus’s core business was a classic example of a vertical market. The broker sells the policy and needs the phone answered and the claim managed through to the insurer – a clear vertical. But the claims handling model Coplus built for brokers could also be adapted as a solution for insurers, albeit a more complex process, so the business spread horizontally to handle insurer claims.

Customer triangle

Another concept which started life as a feature of Coplus’s claims handling system is the customer triangle, created to make sense of the fragmentation in motor claims. The triangle comprises of a customer involved in an incident, a contracting party such as a broker, and some form of insurer contract. Within those three points is all the information required to decide on a course of action and set the customer on to the right track.

Jason explains: “The customer triangle is straightforward on one level and sophisticated and clever on another. But what it means is that we can disassociate and re-use data so the information governing what we do for the insurer, add what’s contained in the policy detail to the specifics of the incident which, when put together, gives a unique outcome. So, when the claim is reported, we can use the technology we’ve built to give instant and clear advice and guidance to the customer, so they know exactly what’s going to happen and when. Plus, we’ve built the technology in such a flexible and open way that we can add any number of governing parties, so that whoever gets in contact and no matter what’s happened, we can always give clear next action guidance.

He continues: “Strategic alliances have always played a part in Coplus’s growth strategy, and our relationships with brokers have been built over many years. Those relationships with strategic broker partners have been instrumental in helping us build trust and co-operation with their insurer partners. Our brokers are really invested in our claims handling systems and helped us connect with their insurers because they trust our claims handling abilities, backed by our transparency and integrity. We also have strong strategic alliances with our supply chain.

We have upwards of 40 suppliers, from windscreen replacement to recovery and salvage, and from boiler repairs to locksmiths. As the claims handling provider, we manage the triangle, working out what needs to be done and instructing a service provider to take the appropriate action.”

Future

As for the long-term future for Coplus, Jason is confident that opportunities for significant growth will come from both the insurer and broker alliances. And with greater reach comes greater resources, leading to the ability to innovate even faster.

Jason sums up: “Without doubt the future is exciting, with the added handl bonus that, although Coplus has its own strategy and its own path, it operates within the context of the Group where there are other companies equally strong which fit with our claims handling skills and vice versa.”

Jason Tripp

is Managing Director of Coplus.

Jason adds: “That was just within the motor industry. We had all these change capabilities but first learning and understanding what the market wanted and needed, that was the challenge. With the people and technology we have available, plus the attitude and style of the company, it is possible to achieve our strategic goal to continue diversifying into property claims handling, and legal claims, and pet, and travel and so on...”

handl Group Supplement | 13

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We have created a working culture that has a real can-do attitude – Mark Stirrup

Q. Have you discovered any new challenges and/or opportunities by being situated in Liverpool? Has it caused you to re-think the way you do business?

MS: The biggest difference is that you get better value for money in the north! From an operational perspective, we are certainly getting more return on our investment.

We have access to a great pool of resources with a very accessible location and have been able to expand the range of roles within the business. This has allowed us to expand our clinical and operational capability more so than we ever would have had in Bristol.

MIM: What are Corporé’s and TTN’s future growth plans?

MS: Now that we are more settled in Liverpool and have the increased capability and capacity, we can now focus on growth.

We believe we can do a lot more in our core markets direct to insurers and self-insured. For example, in the first five months of this year we have signed up five new insurers.

We are currently looking at some of our aligned services, such as absence case management, and are looking more around the self-insured market where large corporates, industrial businesses, retailers and transport companies self-insure to a limit before the insurer kicks in. refresh our business model with a new start in a more appropriate city centre location.

MIM: Tell us a bit about yourselves…

Mark Stirrup: I am the Managing Director of both Corporé and TTN. I have been in post since August 2017 and I have overseen some quite radical rationalisation of the business including closing the down of loss making operations and the transfer of the business from Bristol to Liverpool. I have extensive experience in sales, commercial and operations in a combination of the insurance, personal injury claims and rehabilitation industries, and I am determined and committed to making Corporé the undisputed market leader in its sector.

Emma Thomson: I am Head of Operations for Corporé and TTN. I started working across the business in 2003 as a Project Manager and then Head of IT, moving into this role in 2017. I am responsible for the operational unit for Corporé and TTN; they operate as two separate units but we come together to ensure that we are maintaining and hitting our KPIs and SLAs and that each unit is performing as it should in order to create a seamless workflow across both businesses.

MIM: It has been just over a year since the move from Bristol to Liverpool. What was the decision behind the re-location?

MS: It was quite a straightforward decision. We had outgrown our space in Bristol, from both a size and office quality perspective, and handl Group had some available space in Liverpool. We felt that it was the perfect opportunity for us to move closer to the group in the North West and refresh our business model with a new start in a more appropriate city centre location.

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We are part of a growing group that is well organised and strategic in its thinking in terms of the way it is acquiring new businesses and mitigating against changes in the market – Mark Stirrup MIM: Have you discovered any new challenges and/ or opportunities by being situated in Liverpool? Has it caused you to re-think the way you do business?

MS: The biggest difference is that you get better value for money in the north! From an operational perspective, we are certainly getting more return on our investment.

We have access to a great pool of resources with a very accessible location and have been able to expand the range of roles within the business. This has allowed us to expand our clinical and operational capability more so than we ever would have had in Bristol.

MIM: What are Corporé’s and TTN’s future growth plans?

MS: Now that we are more settled in Liverpool and have the increased capability and capacity, we can focus on growth.

We believe we can do a lot more in our core markets, direct to insurers and self-insured. For example, in the first five months of this year we have signed up five new insurers.

We are currently looking at some of our aligned services, such as absence case management, and are looking more around the self-insured market where large corporates, industrial businesses, retailers and transport companies self-insure to a limit before the insurer kicks in.

New propositions are also on the table. We already provide a lot of psychological services, but are looking to develop that further and recruit more in-house clinical capability in Psychotherapists to support our existing Psychologists.

We are very positive about the future. We are part of a growing group that is well organised and strategic in its thinking in terms of the way it is acquiring new businesses and mitigating against changes in the market. It is financially strong and we work together very closely across the portfolio. For example, we are currently working with Coplus on outsourced services and with EQL’s technology, which are great examples of how we join forces.

MIM: How have Corporé and TTN benefitted from the enhanced investment from handl Group into its products and services, and how has this supported its growing customer base?

MS: The investment has been particularly important to us, without new propositions we would not be able to grow.

Everything is lining us up to be in a position where over the course of the rest of this year, we will have a really good platform to build on. And that is all down to a combination of location, premises, sales capability, operational capability and clinical breadth.

We are professionalising the business, formalising the structure and rationalising the systems. Because the business has been made up of a number of acquisitions, we started off with five systems and we are now down to three, and we’re heading towards one.

In terms of sales, we are recruiting more capability and starting to push our sales activity with a focus on doing more of what we are good at and gaining greater penetration in our existing markets where we already provide a great service and have a good reputation.

MIM: Why is it important to have brand synergy across Corporé and TTN? MS: From a handl Group perspective, we have kept the individual brand identities separate rather than rebadging them in the group name. I think that is important because each of the businesses within handl Group are well known individually and we could lose brand equity by taking that away. handl is going to market by creating a portfolio of businesses, allowing the organisations to go forward as their own entities, but behind the scenes we do all work together to maximise the value to handl Group.

MIM: What are Corporé’s and TTN’s core values?

ET: Our companies’ core values are: • Outcome focused – delivering our promise and reaching a positive result • Knowledge – with continuous investment in learning and self-development, we maintain the highest level of industry knowledge to share with our customers and clients

• Innovation – we are always looking for ways to make access to the best support as easy as possible by harnessing technology with the use of digital solutions • Integrity – we believe in honesty, trust and transparency when dealing with customers, clients, stakeholders and colleagues • Trusted experts – having successfully supported over 220,000 injured parties back to optimum recovery, we are the trusted provider of choice for many • Efficiency – we take a proactive approach to getting the client back to optimum recovery both in life and at work, whilst delivering the best value outcome • Empathy – because we really are people caring about people • Collaboration – because together, we really are better MIM: One of your mantras is ‘people caring about people’, how do you look after your employees and ensure they are met with encouragement and support?

MS: We have created a working culture that has a real can-do attitude. Our Liverpool team is incredibly focused, ambitious and energetic. We are all about supporting our staff and celebrating their successes.

ET: We have just had our first birthday in Liverpool and so we had a party to celebrate and we presented awards – it is really important that we recognise them for all their hard work and achievements over the course of the year because we wouldn’t have the amount of success we do without them.

MIM: What do rehabilitation providers need to be aware of in the future?

MS: We’re not too concerned about Brexit as we are very UK-centric, but it certainly could have a degree of influence over the government timetable around some of the reforms that they are proposing to introduce. We do believe that the new reforms, which are likely to come into force in April 2020, will have quite an impact on the market. Having said that, we have a lot of high value services which would be completely protected from the reforms. In terms of our lower value products, which we sell direct to insurers, we believe that they will persist beyond the introduction of the next phase of reforms as we provide great, cost-effective services for insurers to manage their risk. So we believe we are very well placed from a regulatory and governmental change perspective.

MIM: How have the needs and expectations of clients changed in recent years, and how do you plan to continue to keep up with these?

ET: One of the key changes we have seen is that our customers want us to be more innovative and keep up to date with technology. We are looking ahead to make sure we are coming to market with products that are different and that can add value for the customer. For example, we are working with EQL on a digital triage which is super exciting!

MS: The other change we are seeing in the market is that insurers are becoming increasingly focused on the reforms next year, and therefore I think they are very receptive to

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We want to set the bar for standards within case management – Emma Thomson

new ideas and new technology. They are becoming more sophisticated as well, particularly around rehabilitation.

Historically, they have been much more focused on hire and repair, but rehabilitation is very much coming into the frame.

MIM: What targets do Corporé and TTN have this year?

ET: We want to set the bar for standards within case management. It’s not a regulated service so we are implementing a case management framework.

MS: Because it is an unregulated activity, there are very few standards. We are introducing our own standard; this will cover the clinical governance of what we do, our operational standards, and IT, risk and security, so we are really setting out our stall. We believe that we are already ahead of the curve compared to our competitors; we want to make that clear to our customers and demonstrate our market leadership.

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Mark Stirrup is Managing Director of Corporé and The Treatment Network

Emma Thomson is Head of Operations at Corporé and The Treatment Network.

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Delivering our promise. Keeping yours.

Driving operational success Drawing on over eighteen years’ experience in the Medio-Legal Industry, Susan Henry, Operations Director at Speed Medical, has a wealth of valuable industry knowledge and is well-versed in the areas of service delivery and operational processes. Here she speaks to Modern Insurance about Speed Medical’s operational success and future plans.

In 2019, the UK’s leading independent provider of medical reports and rehabilitation, Speed Medical, is celebrating twenty-one successful years in the industry. Continuing to lead the way by driving clinical quality, improving efficiencies and embracing the latest technologies, Speed Medical is all about delivering outstanding service.

Instrumental to that success is Operations Director, Susan Henry. Responsible for everything operational, Susan has driven real improvements to processes, service levels and customer satisfaction; constantly asking the question ‘is it good enough?’, not only to drive continuous innovation but also to challenge herself and her management team into thinking about the bigger picture of the company’s long-term plan.

After joining Speed Medical in 2004, Susan has worked in many pivotal roles across the business for the last fifteen years. Her exposure to all aspects of how the company works, and what has made it successful, plus her great eye for detail and passion for delivering outstanding customer service, has seen her make a significant contribution to Speed’s success.

Her experience of setting up the Expert Liaison Team, being Operations Manager and now Operations Director, has given her the insights required to build and shape the products and services Speed Medical is proud to offer today.

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“But enough about me,” Susan says, modestly. “My belief is that it’s not individuals but collaboration that’s the key. My motto is ‘you are only as good as your team’, and I constantly encourage them to challenge the status quo, both as individuals and as a company, by constantly improving our product offerings and performance. By always trying to do our job that little bit better, with a keen focus on the personal touch, our customers realise how important they are, and that we care and are listening.”

She expands further, “By working cohesively together, sharing best practices and striving for excellence, we can design, build and implement robust operational processes across the handl Group. People do business with people and having strong relationships both internally and externally is key to our success.

Everyone must listen to customers, understand their needs, and strive for the same goals.”

Speed Medical prides itself on its bespoke systems, delivering customer solutions to match their

People do business with people and having strong relationships both internally and externally is key to our success

We operate in a highly challenging and competitive environment. To compete effectively and stay relevant to our customers’ needs, we must be constantly pushing the boundaries to improve our quality of service and commercial offerings

requirements which, Susan claims, is very different to how some of their competitors work. She says, “Our levels of personal service set us apart. We constantly look for different and alternative solutions when working in partnership with our supply chain and our customers.”

The introduction of Speed Medical into handl Group has been a part of a wider acquisition strategy, and it has brought a range of new perspectives. Susan explains, “It has been interesting to observe other companies within the Group. Their operational structures and customer relationships have enabled cross opportunities and further innovation and creativity within Speed Medical.

has designed, built and implemented a range of interactive portals for clients, such as MyMedical.

Susan explains, “MyMedical is our state-of-the-art client-facing application where appointments can be booked and changed, rehabilitation self-assessments can be completed, and information uploaded. Other portals provide our customers and supply chain with real-time information and interactive secure document management facilities.”

One big change on the horizon for Speed Medical, and indeed the sector, are reforms to the Civil Liability Bill.

Although less than a year away from coming into force, there is still some uncertainty surrounding what will be implemented and how it will affect the role medical agencies play.

Susan says, “We are viewing this as an opportunity rather than a problem, and so we are currently planning around different outcomes. Further opportunities are also arising through insurer protocol schemes in both reporting and rehabilitation, with some exciting pilots of new services to the insurer market.”

In terms of what the rest of the year holds for Speed Medical, Susan is clear, “We will continue to learn, grow and diversify. We have high aspirations for the future and that is reflected in our targets as we move forward.”

“We operate in a highly challenging and competitive environment. To compete effectively and stay relevant to our customers’ needs, we must be constantly pushing the boundaries to improve our quality of service and commercial offerings.”

Susan Henry is Operations Director at Speed Medical.

Technology will play a huge part in tailoring products and services to customers’ needs, and Speed Medical

Our core values: l One Team, One Vision – We are one team – unified – with one vision and all work together to achieve it. l Customer First – We listen to the needs of our customers and put them at the heart of what we do. l Make an Impact – We work smarter with our colleagues, our customers and their clients to leave a positive lasting impression. l Real Relationships – We nurture real relationships with honesty, integrity and transparency. l Strive for Excellence – We inspire every member of our team to go the extra mile to deliver an outstanding service.

We make sure that each value emanates throughout our everyday working lives; we live and breathe them every day.

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Accessing healthcare should be EQL to all

Laying out his vision for EQL, a start-up that is embracing emerging technologies in order to reinvent healthcare, Jason Ward, Co-Founder, told Modern Insurance about his journey as a start-up and what’s next for the project.

MIM: Tell us a bit about yourself Jason?

JW: I come from a financial services background and was a commodities broker originally, five years in London, two years in Geneva, Switzerland. I remember sitting down with my step-father, who is a GP and a general partner at five NHS practices, and my mum who is an NHS nurse, back in London a little disillusioned with “the City”, and talking to them about my step-father’s recent consultancy work within a large health care business. He was helping them with their primary health care strategy, and he reached out to me and asked if I wanted to look into it with him. I have always had an entrepreneurial streak but I had never done anything about it, so I guess this was my chance.

We ended up building a Primary Care business together and we ran that business for three years.

I then came out of that business and was brought in as a Management Consultant to a Digital Health company to advise on strategy, and then after seven weeks I was made Head of Corporate Development with a large focus on innovation, looking at new solutions for health care and then selling them into the market.

I then met my Co-Founder, Peter Grinbergs, who had worked in elite sport as a physio and had also run a number of successful healthcare businesses.

We began looking at new technology and started

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to think about how we could provide better efficiency, scalability and affordability in healthcare.

MIM: What is EQL?

JW: EQL (said equal) was born from an idea of delivering accessible and affordable healthcare, anywhere to anyone in any language. The reason it is called EQL is because in our eyes when it comes to accessing healthcare we should all be equal.

Technology allows us to break barriers and change the landscape, and from our perspective we want to see how many lives we can influence using technology to improve access. Shorter term goals are, especially in the UK, to create efficiencies and lower cost and therefore broaden access using state of the art technology. Although we are early in our journey, our customers so, far are extremely excited about the prospect that we are delivering to the market from the 20th June onwards.

MIM: How have you found being a start-up within this industry? Have you found it to be a challenge?

JW: A start-up always begins from a hopeful and exciting conceptual place, what most people don’t tell you is how quickly it becomes a place of fear and self-doubt – you are constantly asking yourself

whether you can make it, does your product fit a market need and ultimately will it pay the bills. We are looking for growth and success but being in a start-up environment, you don’t know whether your product is going to work until it works, and at which point, does it scale? We are in the healthcare market where you can do real good – you can improve people’s lives in a meaningful way and ultimately help more people get better or have a better outcome. If any market allows you to be a bit more positive about getting it right, I think healthcare is one.

MIM: What technology are you implementing?

JW: The business is fundamentally an AI driven software house within healthcare. We are on the Google Cloud for Start-ups program, and as a result we have access to engineers at Google that show us the best and the brightest of the technology that is out there.

The technology we are looking at is very human facing rather than in the background - it is all about human interactivity. We are using conversational AI for human interaction, which will ultimately evolve into NLP (natural language processing). At the moment it is just about efficiency.

Within our roadmap we have a clear pathway of products utilising some really exciting technologies.

MIM: How did you find this gap in the market that you are aiming to fill?

JW: It was from a pretty obvious state of affairs – if you are in the UK, there is a good chance you are waiting months to see a physio on the NHS. If you are in an insured environment, it is a lot quicker but there is a cost involved.

It is a data poor environment, so you are only getting limited data back through the system and user experience is generally poor. That needs to change and that is where technology steps in.

Peter, is a physio by trade and the idea came from him having grown a network of physio businesses but also getting to know his patients. Ultimately, one of our goals is to replicate that scenario of having a physio physically next to you – essentially, a physio in your pocket telling you what to do every day, when and where, and tracking and engaging you in your rehab.

have embraced us and so we sit within the handl group, as a standalone Healthcare Technology business.

MIM: Tell us about Phio...

JW: Our core focus is delivering our first product, Phio. Phio is a chatbot that acts and thinks like a physiotherapist. Our launch on the 20th June was of a fully automated triage product, which, via a chatbot, you can run through a triage just like a normal physio would with a patient but without the physio physically being in the room.

Phio asks you questions as though you are in a normal appointment. We have some other pretty revolutionary iterations and developments dropping into Phio later this year. It’s going to change the nature of physiotherapy so watch this space!

MIM: How would you say the industry is changing? Is it for the better?

JW: The speed at which technology is advancing is not linear, it is exponential at the moment. So, what do the next two years look like? Incredibly hopeful. Technology is going through massive change but so is health care. Insurers and Public sector commissioners are embracing technology that will ultimately benefit users. We feel passionately about making sure we are delivering that change. We are looking at bigger, wider use cases for technology and that is where EQL was born from – this idea of using state of the art technology to improve health care.

MIM: Would you consider EQL to be a disruptor – and what advice would you give to others looking to disrupt the market?

JW: Research, research, and research!

Understanding the market that you are trying to get into, and trying to improve and make your mark on, is really important. With EQL, we had a fresh mindset that we wanted to go and find the problem and then fix it, rather than just building something that we thought was cool or that the market may want. Understand where the pain points are before you start building. Be customer obsessed, because ultimately, those are the people that are going to prove whether you are a success or not.

Jason Ward

is Co-Founder of EQL.

MIM: How does EQL fit into handl?

JW: When we went to raise money, as all start-ups do, we went down the traditional start-up route of the VC market, but that didn’t work out for us because we were quite unique in our backgrounds.

So when we approached handl Group, what became apparent was that we had a mutual understanding of the market we were trying to target. handl are incredibly forward thinking and embraced our idea - this is the future of where this market can and should be going and rather than run away from it or blinker themselves to it, they

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The MLA Way 24 | handl Group Supplement

Speaking to Mike Shallcross, Head of Operations at Medical Legal Appointments (MLA), Modern Insurance found out about MLA’s future growth plans and why he believes MLA’s employees are their greatest strength.

MLA is a medical reporting agency based in Liverpool. They offer a comprehensive medical reporting service, working on a nationwide scale and are renowned for exceptional delivery of service.

Specialising in Industrial Disease (ID) claims, they bring over 27 years’ experience to every one of their reports, guaranteeing a quality, efficient and valuable service supported by an extensive network of specialist medical experts.

dynamic working within the Group and we are always looking to stand out and achieve more,” said Shallcross. “We are looking at other areas of reporting, but also working with our customers to understand what they want and need in order to develop products and services to meet those specifications.” “We want to continue to be the market leaders in Industrial Disease for many years to come and be the ID arm of handl Group.”

Growing in size

Mike Shallcross has been a part of MLA since 2006, becoming Head of Operations in 2009. He has seen the company grow from an SME SRO to becoming the longest established MRO on MedCo. In 2013, handl Group identified MLA as a strategic acquisition, and in 2014, MLA joined the Group, bringing with it a wealth of expertise and knowledge.

Shallcross talked us through MLA’s journey, its growth and what the future holds for them. He suggested that by being a part of handl Group it has allowed them to raise their expectations and go for gold. “Being part of handl has really shown us that we have the capability to grow and expand and reach our number one objective of being a Tier 1 MedCo agency.”“In order to aspire to be Tier 1, we have to comply with Part 2 of the Qualifying Criteria, and meet all of the extra metrics. The team at MLA has optimised our processes so that we are not just meeting those Tier 1 requirements but actually exceeding them. We are already operating at the standard of a Tier 1 so it is on the horizon we just need to keep working hard and hitting our targets.”

“We’re an ambitious company and want to continue to grow our brand and business. It is an exciting

she was once one herself! She has been a great asset to our business and has allowed us to evolve - the knowledge that she has brought forward and shared with the team has enabled us to optimise our processes to improve the customer journey. Erin has developed software for us that sits behind our claims system and has helped us to develop our screening services for NIHL (Noise Induced Hearing Loss) claims. We really value everything that each one of our team members can bring forward because it ultimately helps us to make this business the best it can be,” explains Shallcross.

Customer base

Employee excellence

Throughout Shallcross’s interview, he was incredibly passionate about his staff, exclaiming that “our staff are our greatest strength.” “I can’t praise them enough because every challenge or opportunity we put in front of them, they revel in it and deliver,” said Shallcross.

“We have great retention rates in terms of our staff and that is great for customers as they get the continuity of service, build relationships and ultimately trust that every member of the team is experienced and knowledgeable.”

“In 2016 we recruited Erin McBride, who is our Supply Chain and ID Manager,” said Shallcross. “She is a qualified Solicitor and really understands ID claims from the customer perspective, because

One of the changes in the market that Shallcross commented on was how the requirements of their customer base had changed over the years and how MLA had listened and adapted their service to meet them. The rise of Military Accident claims, for example, spurred MLA’s Military Claims service, covering Military deafness, Military-PTSD, NFCI (Trench Foot) and Compartment Syndrome. Similarly, its specialism in NIHL cases (over 40,000 cases to date) was developed as a point of differentiation to offer more technologically-led audiology reporting, utilising innovative CERA and ULL testing. It’s a formula that’s worked well for MLA, developing specialist products and services to meet customer needs. Providing a quality service to every customer is at the heart of all we do,” said Shallcross. “We approach every task with our company values in mind – make it happen, lead with service and always deliver.”

Mike Shallcross

is Head of Operations at Medical Legal Appointments.

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NEW TO THE BLOCK As the latest acquisition of handl Group, Niccola Irwin, Managing Director at Harrison Associates, discusses her delight at joining such a strong group that shares their commitment to service excellence. As well as getting to know her and the business, we found out what changes she expects to take place within the case management and rehabilitation space, and how handl Group are helping them to grow and develop.

MIM: Tell us a bit about you and your route into Harrison Associates?

NI: I am an occupational therapist born and trained in Australia and relocated to the UK in 2001.

Case management was only really developing here in the UK 15 years ago, so I came at a time when the experience I had was welcomed. I met Jan Harrison, also an occupational therapist, at one of the first CMSUK events (Case Management Society UK). She offered me a job and I’ve been here ever since!

MIM: What made you want to become an occupational therapist?

NI: Originally I was studying a science-based degree, which I then converted into occupational therapy.

It’s a broad health profession offering a wide range of conditions and age groups, which opened doors into different industries and brought new experience and knowledge. Since my graduation over twenty years ago, I have completed a masters degree in

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case management and more recently obtained an MBA. MIM: You’re originally from Australia where you said things were different, so do you think you brought that experience to the UK and tried to do things differently while at Harrison Associates?

NI: My experience in Australia, where the case management model is well established and commercialised, albeit very different to the UK insurance market, has contributed to Harrison Associates development over the years.

MIM: Do you think the relationship between case managers and insurers can be improved and, if so, how?

NI: There is always room for improvement. We need to remember that there is an injured client at the heart of the matter. Communication and agreed goals between all parties, including the client, their family, the insurers, solicitors and case managers, is essential.

MIM: What sort of opportunities do you think handl will offer Harrison Associates?

NI: handl Group offers us further growth, new opportunities and strategic partnership with group companies in the shared sector. We welcome the investment and support to accelerate our growth strategy.

MIM: What are Harrison Associates goals for the rest of 2019?

NI: We will continue to focus on delivering high quality services to our catastrophically injured clients, whilst going through the exciting integration process into the handl group. Jan Harrison is still very much involved and her high standards and clinical expertise has paved the way for our reaccreditation with CARF (Commission for Accreditation of

“Communication and agreed goals between all parties, including the client, their family, the insurers, solicitors and case managers, is essential” Rehabilitation Facilities), which we hope to achieve imminently. We are very proud to be one of only five companies in England to hold CARF accreditation.

MIM: What are your personal professional aims for 2019?

NI: Being part of the board of directors of CMSUK, I am looking forward to being involved in driving case management forward as an accredited profession.

MIM: Within the sector Harrison Associates operates in, do you foresee any major changes?

NI: Our market place is constantly evolving with the major reforms coming down the line, we will continue to adapt and deliver the best service to our clients.

Niccola Irwin

is Managing Director of Harrison Associates.

WE ARE HARRISON ASSOCIATES We expertly develop, deliver and monitor tailor-made rehabilitation plans and care packages for individuals with catastrophic or life-changing injuries.

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Modern Insurance spoke to Susan Henry, Operations Director, Foresight, about the company’s exciting growth plans for this year, and how the partnership with handl Group has enabled further opportunity for investment and innovation in technology, taking the business to the next level.

Foresight is an industry-leading, nationwide provider of expert witness services, providing an expert witness panel to support criminal and family law cases. Dedicated to helping legal professionals save time and work smarter, Foresight sources the most suitably qualified and relevantly experienced experts to support your case. Foresight provides expert witnesses to criminal solicitors, family solicitors, local authorities, barristers and private clients. Drawn from all over the UK, Foresight’s nationwide panel covers a huge range of clinical and forensic medical, psychological, psychiatric, accountancy and IT disciplines.

Foresight was acquired by the handl Group in May 2018, and according to Foresight’s Operations Director, Susan Henry, “It has definitely been a learning curve for both Foresight and the handl Group. But not only has the Group allowed us to springboard off their business model and strategy, to take Foresight forward, the result is also well above anything we could have imagined in terms of progress. The power behind the Group and its aspirations for success are becoming reality, and it’s great to be seen as an important piece in the strategic jigsaw.”

Susan continues, “The boundaries we had as a small company have now been removed. We have more opportunities and more doors have opened to us. And the

belief handl has shown in us has given us the confidence to think bigger and better in every aspect of the business.”

The acquisition has proved an exciting opportunity for both Foresight and handl, as Foresight looks to strengthen its service offerings assisting in the administration and the provision of quality expert witness evidence.

To take Foresight to the next operational level, the company has also benefitted from additional investment into innovation across its IT platforms and systems, resulting in the technologies that are used in the civil sector also being implemented and applied to the criminal and family sector.

Susan adds, “So, from the innovation and technology point of view, Foresight has not just been able to move the goalposts, we’ve actually widened them to include previously unachievable opportunities.”

Equally important, according to Susan, is the synergy from the Group’s customer base. She emphasises, “One of the things that we do well is connect with our customers. The boundaries we had as a small company have been lifted and we have more customer opportunities now through handl. The customer journey has always been central

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The bou n daries we ha d a s a sma ll c o mp a ny ha v e now been r em oved . We ha v e mo re o p p o rtunities a nd mo r e door s have o p ened to us. And the b elief ha nd l ha s s hown in u s ha s g iv en us the c o nfid enc e to think b igg e r an d better i n ev ery a sp ec t o f the b usiness

to Foresight’s operations and now, from an operational perspective, the adoption of Group practices has resulted in understanding and strengthening each part of that journey to ensure that we provide the best possible service every step of the way. Towards that, key dates and deadlines are incredibly important in Foresight’s world and we have put new measures in place to ensure that they are never missed but instead are exceeded, which has been another substantial benefit from handl’s involvement. It’s all about best practices and sometimes it’s the little things that can make the difference.”

As to Foresight’s growth plans, Susan is confidently excited.

“We have a lot going on! It is definitely an acquisition with huge growth potential. We spent our first year making sure the foundations were not just right, but solid! Foresight has

Fo r es i g h t h as been a hidden g em , bu t we don’ t want it to b e h i d den any l onger

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been a hidden gem, but we don’t want it to be hidden any longer! Our plans for growth are ambitious. It’s our objective to double the size of the company and, in fact, we’re ahead of schedule regarding that. It’s our firm intention to become the market leader and the first-choice expert witness provider.

We want customers to see us as their go-to partner.”

Susan concludes, “Looking forward to the second half of 2019, our priorities are to focus on brand awareness across our existing and new target market areas, in order to achieve our ambitious growth plans. Foresight is a great business with sturdy foundations and, while we may be small, we have our own identity within the Group, and we intend to build on that to the benefit of both parties.”

Susan Henry

is Operations Director for Foresight.

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We’re not your ordinary group company We handl it all. Call us on 03300 947 346 or email info@handlgroup.co.uk handlgroup.co.uk