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A women scorned!

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There are many risks in life and according to some, a women scorned is near the top, but then my wife would say, if I put myself in that position, I probably deserved it and whilst I might reflect thoughtfully, deep down I know she is right.

I once had a boss who everyone outside our organisation, thought was difficult to deal with, but they just didn’t know him. If you were on his team, he was unfailingly loyal. He was frank and honest and that was sometimes difficult to deal with, but he was never unreasonable. You were never going to get stabbed in the back and you would only be likely to get a punch in the face (figuratively speaking) if you were too stupid or too slow to get out of the way.

In business as in life there is a common thread.

If you are aware of the risks you can plan to avoid them, develop strategies to mitigate the worst consequences, or create policies and procedures that will deal with them as they arise and flatten out the costs involved, so that your business is not unduly interrupted.

When asked about the most difficult thing about being prime minister, Harold McMillan said, “Events dear boy, events!” Those things you never expect, but that happen anyway. For him it was the Suez crisis. You only have to look around the world in the last 5 years to see events that changed the world as we knew it.

So don’t wait for a stab in the back, face up to to the challenges, plan for them and when they do happen, as they most assuredly will, your business can continue confidently.

Want to know how a small investment in time and money can give you almost total peace of mind in your business, so you can #justkeepgoing and how often savings in one area can even pay for the work that needs to be done, so the net cost is neutral.

Message me here or call me on 029 20470 375.

(And yes, my wife is always right 😊)

Continuity

What does resilience mean to you?

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In business we think about growth and development plans all the time. How are we going to get from where we are now, to where we want to be in 5, 10,15 or 20 years time. How do we structure our business to achieve those aims and goals?

We know there are many things that could happen to frustrate those goals, and we pick off the easy ones buying business insurances once a year and then forgetting about them, but what about those things you can’t insure?

Whilst some of them might cross our mind occasionally, businesses founders seldom set time aside to consider the implications and even more rarely plan for events and incidents that could seriously interrupt the activity that generates income.

Here are a few you may not have thought about:

  1. Failure of a key supplier or customer
  2. New competitor buying into the market
  3. Legal and regulatory changes
  4. Import export restrictions
  5. Failure of critical IT systems or production machinery
  6. Long lead times on acquiring critical equipment
  7. Sudden increased material costs and stock shortages
  8. Cyber-attacks and financial crimes
  9. Micro-biological contamination
  10. Internal teams leaving to set up business

All these things can and do happen from time to time. I know, as a business continuity advisor I look at them all the time and make sure businesses can #justkeepgoing when unforeseen events really do occur.

With a little planning and foresight, you can develop plans and response structures that can kick in the minute an incident occurs, so that you can continue your income generating activity with little or no disruption and that can be the difference between success or failure.

Resilience = Consideration + Planning + Implementation + Ongoing Validation

If you’d like to know more, have a look at our website www.severnbay.com or call on 029 20 470375.

BIBA 2023

BIBA 2023 Manchester Central

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As a proud member of The British Insurance Brokers Association for over 40 years, and now as a board member, I can say without any hesitation that the BIBA conference in May each year, bringing brokers and insurers together in one place for three days, is one of the best and most productive weeks of the year.

This year the theme is “Rising to the Challenge” The BIBA Conference 2023 | The British Insurance Brokers’ Association

If you have annual arrangements you wish to arrange or renew, doing it at the BIBA conference each year is probably the most effective way. The range of providers present and more importantly decision makers, all in one place make for an excellent conference.

Add to that the line up of keynote speakers and sessions each year, bring everyone up to date with what’s new and emerging as well as all the legal and regulatory matters that will affect our businesses going forward over the next 3 – 5 years. If you are an insurance professional #biba2023 is the place to be.

It’s also nice to be in the middle of something which has been in planning for the last 12 months, leading directly from the manifesto which is published in January each year. In 2023 we are #managingrisk & #deliveryingstability.

Looking forward to meeting friends old and new and securing services that will directly benefit our clients going forward.

Have a great week, I know I will.

 

 

 

Mature Tree

When shall we plant the tree?

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What does resilience mean in your organisation?

The dictionary definition is:

“The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.” Or if you prefer, “The ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity.”

Both definitions above speak about the ability to recover after an event that has had a profound effect on an individual, an organisation, or a thing. In any case it’s clear that how you act after a major incident will determine your ability to continue your previous activity and #preserveprofitability for all stakeholders.

In an organisation that ability does not just happen at the point of impact!

In fact if you did leave the effort until after a major incident has occurred, the chances of recovery being quick or effective are greatly diminished and the result is often the failure of the organisation, if not immediately, by a thousand cuts over several months or years!

The ability to recover quickly is the result of detailed planning, familiarisation, and training, at all levels within the organisation, so that business continuity is understood and recognised by every individual, from the top management, right down to the hands-on operatives to be, business as usual.

Depending on the size of the organisation, achieving a full business continuity solution can take anything from 6 months to 3 years, covering everything in the business continuity cycle:

  1. Policy & Programme Management
  2. Embedding
  3. Impact Analysis
  4. Design of solutions
  5. Implementation
  6. Validation

Get this right and you end up with detailed operational plans, response structures and teams, properly resourced and funded, ready to spring into action the moment an incident occurs.

The incident might only last minutes or hours, but the tail could potentially last for days, weeks or months. Whatever the interruption a response is needed immediately, time is off the essence and delay can mean the difference between success or failure.

There is an old saying that the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the next best time is today.

So, if you’d like to know more about operational resilience, why not give us a call so we can discuss the kind of solutions we can put in place, in your organisation.

Because the tree wont plant itself.

Mature Tree

tree in green field

The Milky Way

The meaning of life, the universe and everything?

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And the answer isn’t 42, unless your a great fan of Douglas Adams. None of us are ever likely to find out what it is, although personal happiness, companionship and contentment come pretty close in my book.

So its no wonder to me that people don’t often put a very high regard on their business insurances, after all they come a pretty remote second to all of the above, on a day to day basis.

Think about them once a year and forget them until you need them, or not at all.

It has been my life’s work, so its important to me, but the most important factor is protecting people, their businesses and therefore all the things i mentioned in the first paragraph.

Happiness and contentment go out the window when serious interruptions occur to business and the lifestyle that it pays for is threatened.

This week I am actively looking at the renewal of two solutions for clients of mine. All the way through I will concentrate on:

  1. The correct technical solution
  2. At the lowest price
  3. Disclose our fee up front so my clients can see it is reasonable

Want to know how I do that?

No, you don’t and quite right too, that’s what I get paid for, #becauseaccidentshappen to nice people all the time, whilst you get on with your business and concentrate on having a nice happy life.

If you want to know more just one of our lovely people on 029 20 470 370 or email info@severnbay.com

Have a great weekend everyone 😊

The Milky Way

Awesome night sky

Boot stamping

It’s simpler than you think?

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Survival is key, so you can #justkeepgoing

When I talk about the skill set that I have developed over the last 40 years, I try to make it easier for people to understand. Jargon is removed and basic concepts remain.

Sometimes they focus one bit and not the others, but it really is quite simple to understand the broad concepts, which are Continuity, Insurance and Risk Management. So, let’s break it down.

  1. Continuity
  2. Insurance
  3. Risk Management

#CONTINUITY is a very wide discipline that covers implementing and testing plans, in respect of events which can prevent you from delivering your products and services and may interrupt the income stream of your business.

#INSURANCE is simply the financial compensation backstop to a very small number of those events and even in the simplest business, you still need to know what you are going to do, directly after an occurrence. How do you do, what you had planned to do tomorrow?

#RISK MANAGEMENT is the act of setting up systems that run in real time alongside your business to reduce the likelihood of an event or to reduce the effect of an occurrence. Easy ones to think of are Health & Safety policies, Security systems and fire suppression systems.

Small businesses very often buy insurance and that is where it stops. Even in slightly larger ones they add in some risk management, but hardly any but the largest organisations carry out any detailed continuity planning, they just react when the chips are down and hope they are clever enough to survive.

If you have plans within your business that encompass all three, you should be well prepared for most events, even the ones you didn’t think about.

Happy to chat about your business and what you might reasonably do to ensure continuity and success over time.

Have a great day

Remember #successisachoice

You just have to decide if you want it

 

Defence

Where did my money go and how can I get it back?

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Just because you have a financial loss, doesn’t mean your insurance will pay up, so understanding what is and what is not covered is crucial in business, #becauseaccidentshappen to nice people all the time.

The first concept to understand about insurance, is that it centres around specific events, such as:

  • Fire
  • Lightning
  • Explosion
  • Earthquake
  • Aircraft
  • Impact
  • Riot and Civil Commotion
  • Storm, Tempest or Flood
  • Escae of water or oil from fixed equipment
  • Collapse of aerials
  • Theft or Attempted Theft
  • Subsidence, Ground Heave or Landslip

Even where cover is give including “Accidental Damage” or even on an “All Risks Basis” there must be a specific event, leading directly to the damage or loss. This is called the proximate cause.

Cover never includes deterioration over time, because of a lack of maintenance. If your roof gets old and leaky, or an old boiler ceases to function, don’t expect the insurers to pay. It is your responsibility to keep the property in a good condition.

Likewise, any damage caused by a “gradually operating cause” is also excluded, for instance pollution damage over several years from the local steel works.

Fundamental exclusions applying to the whole policy will always include:

  1. War
  2. Radioactive Contamination
  3. Sonic Bangs
  4. Changes in the Water Table
  5. Electronic Risks

Want some advice or guidance that is #openhonesttransparent, give us a call on 029 20 470 375 or email info@severnbay.com

Have a great day

 

Eyball

Will you see the unexpected?

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It’s the most important thing in business!

Well, that is what I believe, but belief is not universal.

In my world, planning for continuity is the most important aspect of any business, and I really do believe it should have a higher priority.

The reality is that apart from buying insurance most businesses pay little attention to continuity. It’s not their bag. They just want it out of the way, so they can get on with doing their thing and making money.

Clients seldom ask me detailed questions about their cover. I give them an outline explanation supported by full detailed documentation. I’m happy to go into detail and be #openhonesttransparent but they generally just don’t have the time. I truly wish they did.

Clients are unhappy when they are told they can’t claim for something, which has never been insurable and never could be, but they assumed it was. They seldom read the documents.

Good examples are matters of maintenance, like leaky roofs and worn-out boilers, as well as non-damage related business interruption claims, which have been much in the news lately.

Apart from loss of trading profit after an insured DAMAGE loss, there are  5 main extensions, they are:

  • Failure of Public Utilities
  • Physical damage at a suppliers premises
  • Physical damage at a customers premises
  • Murder death or suicide, on the premises
  • Denial of access due to surrounding property damage

If clients were willing to spend more time understanding their insurances, they would plan better for the things which aren’t insurable, and their businesses would be far more resilient in difficult times. The pandemic proved that beyond any reasonable doubt. Very few insurances had any cover, (for very good reasons) but many assumed they would be insured.

I can explain all this for clients, simply and efficiently, I just need to have a pleasant chat.

Tel: 029 20 470 375

EM: nigel@severnbay.com

Insurance Freak!

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Insurance freak!

I will take that! This was once levelled at me in a high-level board meeting. I took it as a badge of honour when the individual concerned said:

“This is just our job, but everyone knows you love it!”

I’ve always said, if you don’t love what you do, go and do something else. Life is way too short to spend 8+ hours every day doing something you don’t enjoy.

Today is about putting some new business on cover and making sure that our clients get all the relevant documentation in real time, very quickly, so that we can start looking after them and delivering on our promises, #becauseaccidentshappen to nice people all the time.

When you work with the diversity of businesses and situations we look at, no day is ever boring.

Today I’m sorting out:

  • A virtual business assistant
  • A business management consultant
  • An importer of adventurous training equipment
  • The largest plant and seed business in the UK
  • A multi-site shoe repair business

All of these clients will get my personal attention and all of our clients get a personal relationship with a single member of staff as their point of contact, on all matters relating to the solutions we provide.

  1. Continuity
  2. Insurance
  3. Risk Management
  4. Business Consultancy

All of this provided in an #openhonesttransparent manner, so when the worst happens our clients can #justkeepgoing without breaking stride.

Have a great day

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Have a great day