Member Article

Advantage Home Construction Insurance adapts its practices to support construction clients during the Covid-19 epidemic

While many UK businesses have temporarily closed their doors, the construction industry remains active, with changes such as adaptions to site facilities and extended working hours being put in place to facilitate social distancing and safeguard workers’ health. Although much has been written about how construction became one of the few sectors not to be encouraged to send workers home during the UK lockdown, there’s been less focus on the construction-related businesses that have been overhauling their practices in order to continue to support their clients during turbulent times. For Advantage Home Construction Insurance, a leading UK provider of structural warranties, with headquarters in Warrington, and offices in Birmingham and London, the initial focus was, of course, on safety, so rather than working from their busy offices, a core team now works remotely to support existing and new clients. And although they continue to provide site visits, in line with current Government guidelines, they have put strict hygiene and social distancing measures in place for these essential visits. They are continuing to provide their services to clients ranging from leading developers and social housing specialists to individual home builders, providing reassurance that although, as for every sector, their way or working has changed, they are still serving their clients in the construction industry. Sales Director, David Sumner, said: “When making changes to how we work, there were some practical challenges involved in keeping delivery to our clients seamless, because like all businesses, we were in unchartered waters at the start of the Covid-19 outbreak. It’s to the credit of our dedicated team that we’ve been able to adjust so well and keep serving our clients. Also, there have been some surprises along the way. For example, we’re finding that some people are working even harder than usual from home, which is an unexpected benefit of our current way of working.” For Advantage, as for most UK businesses, the pace of change has been rapid, with more enquiries being handled digitally, and all meetings taking place remotely via video conference. By adapting swiftly to the challenges posed by the Covid-19 epidemic, they’ve been able to stay in touch with their clients throughout. Over the years, the Directors at Advantage have invested heavily in a bespoke CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system, which provides a simple and effective way to keep track of interactions with clients and potential clients securely online. This makes it easier to anticipate clients’ likely needs and to provide better and speedier communication, which is particularly valuable at a time when construction clients are facing added pressure. This investment ensured that when Advantage needed to change their way of working rapidly, to safeguard staff and clients during the Covid-19 outbreak, they had the right systems in place for a core team to work remotely, offering online support to clients (as well as phone calls when needed). With those construction sites that remain open generally operating at reduced capacity, Advantage Insurance is currently focusing on providing essential services for their clients, with an emphasis on putting safety first. When the UK comes out of lockdown, Advantage will again review its practices, and the company directors are keen to continue to move swiftly to respond to their clients’ changing needs at a time of rapid change for the construction sector. As in all industries, it seems that for those in construction, and construction-related fields, the ability to adapt to rapidly changing circumstances has never been more vital.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Emma Hill .