Nigel

Why would you do that?

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One of the things I often find frustrating in my interactions with new prospects, is that some of them don’t want to tell me what I need to know, to get the result they want.

Why would you do that?

As a professional I think its my job to educate clients, so they can make better informed decisions. You can’t do that if you don’t have all the information.

They can’t do it and I can’t either.

If you engage with a professional you need to tell them everything about your business and how you operate, otherwise you won’t get the right advice.

Sometimes I think they think, If they tell me everything they do, the price will be higher?

It won’t be higher, it will be the correct price for the risk exposure associated with the activity.

If you don’t tell me everything you do, then don’t be surprised if there’s a claim, that your insurers avoid it on the basis of misrepresentation.

Basically, “you didn’t tell us you did that!”

All you will be holding is a very expensive bit of paper, because the insurance won’t do what you need it to do, when you need it to do it, and that’s what matters most.

1. Open up.
2. Get the right advice.
3. Pay the correct premium
4. Sit back and relax

Have a great weekend everyone 😎

 

Severn Bay Logo

Our Unique Service Proposition.

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At Severn Bay Corporate Solutions, we arrange Continuity, Insurance and Risk Management solutions, for businesses and property owners, #becauseaccidentshappen to nice people all the time.

We TRUST you to disclose everything you know is important and you TRUST us to search out and find the best solution that meets your needs:

We will promise that:

  • All our communications will be clear and concise
  • We will get you the correct technical solution
  • At the lowest price available in the market
  • We will declare our fee up front so you can see that it is reasonable
  • We will save you up to 30% on your current spend

We will do this because we know it is the best way to GAIN or RETAIN clients for our business.

As wholly independent brokers, not tied to or beholden to any provider, we can search an extensive range of products, and tailor a solution to your specific needs.

We do that work for you, so you don’t have to waste precious time without the knowledge or experience to make value judgements about the suitability of what you purchase.

If you’d like a grown-up conversation about your requirements, one built on trust and a long-term relationship, just get in touch and speak to one of our professionally qualified advisers.

www.severnbay.com

Have a great day 😎

 

Booted & Suited

It can’t be that simple, can it?

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I constantly talk to my clients about business, it’s what I do.

Whether that is on the business continuity, insurance, risk management or consulting side of life.

I always try to add value, so my clients get more than they expect. I want to educate them so they can make better informed decisions in business.

40 years of knowledge and experience, often distilled into a single sentence, bringing clarity and awareness.

Lightbulb moments are often a thing!

My mission in consulting is simple: –

“I help founders and directors create detailed plans, to support growth and development in their businesses.”

Pretty neat, eh?

Well, it would be if all businesses were the same, but of course they are not.

They will however all go through 6 distinct phases, and understanding what is needed at each stage is key.

  1. Start-up
  2. Expansion
  3. Stable
  4. Mature
  5. Exit
  6. Sale

First you need to know where you are, evaluate how much have you achieved, and what is left to be done, before you can move on to the next stage.

I can help you avoid the common mistakes, that you don’t need to make, but will, when you don’t know, what you don’t know.

If you follow this simple model supported by detailed plans at each stage, and then execute them effectively, I can almost guarantee success and a profitable and happy future.

Accountability is guaranteed through every stage, so you don’t wander of the path to success.

Advice and guidance are available 7 days a week, at the end of the phone.

Prices start at very affordable levels, £100’s per month, not £1000’s and there is no contract tying you in, regardless of effect i your business.

You engage for as long as you like and find value, in business or personally.

If you’d like to know more, then just message me here.

Have a great week 😎

 

Testing Testing

Corporate Continuity – Part 6

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Now to make sure it all works, and we have enhanced operational resilience across the organisation.

The final stage in any good continuity plan is VALIDATION. We need to know that the programme will remain effective, because things change in any organisation and continued validation will ensure overall resilience is maintained.

Validation is achieved by Exercising, Maintenance and Review.

First we must develop an exercise process to meet the needs of the organisation. Exercises can come in a number of forms.

  1. Discussion based
  2. Scenario exercises
  3. Simulations
  4. Live situational
  5. Tests

Each type has its own characteristics and will fit a particular need but should always involve as much realism as possible. They should manage the risk of disruption to the business, and maximise costs and benefits.

Thorough planning and support is required. There should be a clear method to STOP the exercise if necessary and thorough debriefing is always required, followed by a detailed report.

These plans must be maintained over time, and reviewed regularly. Self-assessment, quality assurance, performance appraisals and supplier performance should be measured, and this should always be followed by a thorough management review, to #preserveprofitability

Now relax and enjoy the weekend

Implementation

Corporate Continuity – Part 5

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Do what you say you will do!

Once we have completed the first four stages of the continuity process:

  1. Policy & Programme Management
  2. Embedding continuity throughout the organisation
  3. Analysis of Business Impacts
  4. Designed solutions

We move on to the IMPLEMENTATION phase, which is where we actually bring continuity to life within the business, driving real change at all levels, so that continuity becomes “Business as Usual”.

To do this we have to:

  • Identify the responsible individuals
  • Develop a draft response structure for top management consideration
  • Document and publish the approved structure
  • Implement the structure within any current continuity plans
  • Rehearse the structure as part of the continuity plan

Response structures will depend on the size and complexity of the organisation and the number of locations. Response structures need to be developed at several levels within the organisations, these are:

  • Strategic – Top Management / Board Level
  • Tactical – Mid Level management at organisation or division level
  • Operational – Detailed operation plans, departments and locations

Responsibilities need to be agreed along with authorities, matching competencies, then implementing and rehearsing team capabilities. There also need s to be a maintenance schedule to update plans as required.

So, lets get this show on the road!

Have a great day

 

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.

 

 

 

World disaster

How long do you have?

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If you’re running a business than “coal face” matters tend to take precedence, especially where customers direct and determine the work you need to do, and the timescales involved. After all the customer is king and if you want them to part with money, you have to provide what they want, when they want it.

But what about all those integral business running matters that you know you need to get to, but never have enough time to get to them?

Continuity, Insurance and Risk Management might not seem that important, until the proverbial hits the fan and you’re scrabbling around for solutions, to problems you had either thought were catered for, or had not even considered.

Some of the most challenging situations I have faced with clients, are the ones they never even considered. They just weren’t in their line of sight.

Everyone buys insurance, because they know they need to, but they don’t really consider the range of covers provided and more importantly they don’t understand the limitations and exclusions.

Only if you set time aside to consider these matters in detail, can you possibly understand the planning and risk management required to cover off all the events that might prevent you from delivering your products or services and which might interrupt your income stream, that are not insured and never will be.

Unfortunately, it’s too late when the event occurs!

When time has run out!

You have less than you think?

If you’d like to know how a very small investment in time and money can give you almost complete peace of mind, in your business, just message me here

Have a great week

Remember #successisachoice

You just have to decide if you want it?

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

 

Always by your side

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Always by your side.

I’m sure there’s a song in there somewhere, maybe Barbara Streisand, now I’m really showing my age. The oldies are the goodies anyway.

And some things never change, insurers still want to carry out physical surveys of premises, ask questions and generally have a poke around, to see exactly what the are covering and how “RISKY” it is.

Fire hazards are the main concerns when dealing with large scale commercial warehouses and the like and that’s before we start talking about many millions of pounds worth of stock and equipment, #becauseaccidentshappen to nice people all the time.

When we talk about fire hazard, we are generally talking about two things, sources of ignition and combustible materials, wood, cardboard packaging and the like. Keeping these two things apart is fire safety 101. Keep them apart and you are 50% of the way there.

After that we look at measure to reduce the problem if a fire occurs. These can include extinguishers, sprinkler systems and alarms, connected to key holders, monitoring stations, the fire services, police and other emergency responders.

Always there, well what I meant by that cryptic comment, is that we will never leave you alone to meet with insurers, surveyors, or professional risk managers. We will always be there to provide advice and guidance, turn up in advance and brief you about the likely course of those meetings and be there as they happen in real time.

Today I travelled 141 miles 2 ½ Hours) to be with an important client, whilst a fire survey took place. I cemented the relationship with the client and built a new one, with another industry professional and I’d have it no other way. It’s #openhonesttransparent Its what we do, day in and day out.

Have a great week.

Open Honest Transparent!

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When we provide services to our clients we adhere closely to our mission, which is

WE WILL PROVIDE OUR CLIENTS WITH A FIRST CLASS “INSURANCE & RISK MANAGEMENT” SERVICE WHICH EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS AND DELIVERS REAL VALUE OVER THE LONG TERM.

We also have some core values, which are important to us, it’s the absolute essence of what we do, they are:

WE ARE PROUD OF OUR HERITAGE AND OUR REPUTATION AND WE WILL ALWAYS STRIVE FOR THE VERY BEST IN EVERYTHING THAT WE DO.

WE WILL MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO KNOW OUR CLIENT’S AND WE WILL PROVIDE SIMPLE, ELEGANT SOLUTIONS, WHICH ARE EASY TO UNDERSTAND AND MEET THEIR NEEDS.

OUR ONLY CONCERN WILL BE TO MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS IN OUR CLIENT’S BEST INTEREST, AT THE LOWEST PRICE AVAILABLE IN THE MARKET.

WE WILL NOT TAKE COMMISSION FROM INSURERS AND OUR FEES WILL ALWAYS BE DECLARED OPENLY AND TRANSPARENTLY.

SERVICE EXCELLENCE AND INTEGRITY ARE EVERYTHING!

Very simply we will find you:

  1. The correct technical solution
  2. At the lowest price in the market place
  3. And disclose our fee up front, before you make a decision, so you can see that it is reasonable.

We will never take commission from insurers, and this removes all possibility of a conflict of interest over placing business and our earnings.

We will seek to educate our clients, so they can make better informed buying decisions and understand the nature of their exposure to risk, the recommendations we are making and why they represent good value for money.

We believe that is #openhonesttransparent

Have a great day