March 2023 update

Performing under pressure

This month we introduce the newest member of our senior management team, Andy Nolan, and provide an update on the excellent progress we are making integrating Revival Blue into  MA Group‘s “better way” of working. We are already seeing positive results as the Revival Blue licensees and staff have fully embraced the changes and risen to the challenges.

Shortly after acquiring Revival Blue late last year, we went into a burst pipe surge and then two new escape of water pilots for clients. The directors of MA Group have been thrilled and delighted to see how well our staff and networks (new and old!) have coped with the increased demand. Feedback from clients and customers has been exceptional and we bring you some of the feedback in this newsletter.

MA Group Charity Golf Day and Dinner

The annual MA Group Charity Golf Day and Dinner will be taking place on 8th June at The Oxfordshire Golf Club.

This is a fabulous day where we raise money for the Oxford Young Adult Clinic. This event raises at least £12,000 every year and makes a real difference to the finances for this wonderful charity that has supported Paul Hayman and his daughter for many years. It also gives us an opportunity to celebrate all the great things our suppliers do for our clients and their customers.

 

If you would like to join us, for golf and/or dinner, please get in touch with Sally-Ann Johnson.

Andy Nolan

We are delighted that Andrew Nolan has joined our senior management as Chief Information Officer. He will be using his 35+ years of IT experience in transforming businesses, improving efficiency and compliance to manage our innovation and RESOLVER teams.

He is PRINCE2 qualified and, over the last 15 years, has led digital transformation programmes in the housing repair and insurance claims industries. He will be leading the digital transformation across MA Group.

Welcome aboard Andy.

Climate change increasing flood damage

The BBC recently reported on research into the impact of climate change on flooding carried out by Fathom and the University of Bristol.

Researchers have produced a detailed “future flood map” of Britain simulating the impact of flooding as climate change takes its toll. The annual cost of flood damage across the UK currently, according to the Association of British Insurers, is £700m and the research has revealed that annual damage caused by flooding could increase by more than a fifth in today’s terms over the next century.

Even if climate change pledges are met (keeping temperature increase to around 1.8C) places including south-east England, north-west England and south Wales are set to experience significantly increased flooding.

But flooding isn’t the only disaster management issue insurers are dealing with. The increasing number and severity of escape of water claims continues to challenge the industry. The most recent burst pipe surge, caused by the extremely cold weather at the start of this year, is one of those intense events that the industry struggles to manage and that attract a lot of attention.

But every week MA Group deals with water damage events in homes that are increasing in number and severity  because there is so much water running through peoples’ homes. The increasing number of appliances in homes, such as dishwashers and washing machines, coupled with a trend towards multiple bathrooms, ensuites and underfloor heating means that disaster management companies will always be busy.

So it is incredibly important that the disaster restoration industry is well run and understood as insurers will be spending more and more on drying our properties. Luckily for us Revival and Revival Blue are leading the way!

Revival Blue – a better way

Since we acquired Revival Blue on 31st October 2022, we have worked hard to integrate the business into the rest of MA Group and to embed the discipline and operational excellence that is already evident in Revival and the rest of the group.

In just five months we have:

• Integrated all of the Revival Blue staff into the MA Group staff structure and roles.
• Carried out full compliance checks and audits of all of the licensees across the UK.
• Introduced the measurement of Net Promote Scores for all licensees.
• Implemented our supply chain managament tools such as Service Delivery Performance Indicators (SDPIs) and capacity management (Know Your Limits).

• Introduced equipment management to the network, enabling them to know exactly where every piece of drying equipment is so creating efficiencies and a clear view of equipment capacity.
• Trained the licensees to use Scoper, our bespoke, mobile scoping and validation app that enables efficient collection of data on site that is automatically transmitted back to the office and stored on our claims management system, Pulse.
• And of course we have introduced the licensees to TREVOR our digital solution that supports trained technicians to deliver certainty around drying by accurately predicting how long a drying regime will take and to alert technicians and MA Group staff when the regime is not working as it should.

We are busy organising our first National Branch Meeting which will bring together all of the Revival and Revival Blue branches together for the first time. This is taking place on 20th and 21st April at Hotel La Tour in Milton Keynes. This is a great opportunity for the branches to hear about our plans for the business, share best practice and generally get to know each other. If any branches have not signed up for this meeting, please get in touch with Sally-Ann Johnson to book a place.

Burst pipe surge feedback

We have been delighted with the performance of our Revival and Revival Blue networks during the burst pipe surge. The positive feedback and WORLD CLASS NPS results continue to flow in. So we thought we would share just a few of the excellent compliments we have received for our disaster management network:

• Strathclyde: “Thank you for all your help to date with the flood to my property – you and your team have been extremely helpful and I appreciate you doing what you say you will in the allocated time slot.  It really makes a difference”
• Crawley: “[Client] have shared back to us how impressed they are with the communication and partnership Simon has built with his local PMA..  This has resulted in quicker approvals and less unnecessary phone calls and emails”
• North London:”As I have told Steve on several occasions I think Revival is an excellent company and the guys who came to the house could not have been more thoughtful or kind – not to mention that their work was excellent.”
• Milton Keynes: “Francesca and her team were friendly and respectful at all times. Easily contactable and ready to answer any questions we had. First class service.  Well impressed.”
• Portsmouth: “The policyholders are absolutely happy with the technicians service. He said the tech is a credit to Revival Blue and he was so helpful, showed extra care and made them feel at ease because given their age and this is the first time this has happened, they didn’t know what to expect but he was really good with them.”
• South West London: “Many thanks for all your support through this – and also thanks for the various members of your team who have been at the house and sorting me out. Excellent work, very charming gentlemen – and you have all made the whole sorry mess much more bearable.”
• Northampton: “..the service he received from your company was amazing, said the contractor that completed the job was absolutely fantastic and was very happy with the service.”
• Manchester: “We would also like to offer our thanks and gratitude to [Revival Blue] who were fantastic in their work and keeping us fully informed all the way. Collectively you all made a stressful situation feel that bit better.”
• Southern: “Thx for getting this one over the line. You will see from the attached that the Insured has been “massively impressed with the professionalism of everyone involved”.  I would also like to extend my appreciation and thanks to all those involved.  I know this claim has not been so straightforward, at times, so to receive such comments, I think should be doubly welcome.”

Our disaster management NPS results so far this year have consistently exceeded 80, an incredible result for such a busy time. Well done to everyone.

MA Group MAD Awards

Lisa Nelson, one of our Operations Managers in Aylesbury, was our MADdest employee in February 2023.

She received two MAD announcements:

• The first involved praise from staff working for our largest client who were thrilled with Lisa’s assistance on some recent difficult cases. They said they found it really positive dealing with Lisa on such cases and it she gave them confidence for any such cases going forward.
• Lisa also received praise from a customer for teamwork shown by Lisa and others. He said “Lisa joined the virtual platform and skillfully introduced commonsense interaction”.

Well done Lisa, great work.