Diary of an Insurer: Belfor UK’s Paul Anderson

Monday

Today I’m in our Sheffield office, checking in on the team and catching up with the operations manager. We run through the reports and focus on specific areas.

The team are doing a great job and it’s reflecting in the performance and quality of work that is being produced. Strong relationships in the region have seen an increase in demand for our services.

We have recently won some large tenders which will have an impact on the workforce and our suppliers. We review our current recruitment plan. Although we have made some good headway, we have some way to go.

The shortage of experienced restoration technicians and tradespeople really does mean we need to come up with new ways of attracting the right talent to Belfor UK. We spend most of the afternoon on this topic, then it’s back home for the next day. 

Tuesday

I start my day in our Tamworth office going through our daily reports, looking at trends by region and how we are performing as a business. I then review regional performance and look out for any exceptions I need to discuss with the regional operations managers. 

I then review emails from the previous and same day making sure I am up-to-date with communication and actions. 

It is then time for a meeting with the technical manager to review our new trainee recruitment programme, this has been a great way of attracting new talent into the restoration industry and we are making great progress, thanks to our new training facility in Luton.

By the end of the programme, we will have 10 new technicians in the industry with a further 10 to be added – the team are doing a great job. 

Time now to plan for my meeting with the team in the south west tomorrow. 

Wednesday  

A 6am start today as I am heading to our south-west office in Cwmbran, Wales.

Here, I will spend the day with the new regional manager and the new field manager, to go over the regional reports and areas we need to focus on.

It is a large area so it takes a lot to plan jobs in order to get the efficiencies correct. The team have really hit the ground running and this teamwork gives me great confidence in our services. We make some key decisions on recruitment and the areas whereby it’s needed.

It’s now time for a team meeting with one of our insurer clients to discuss a new book of business they have won. We discuss implementation and how we can help them with their end-to-end R&R needs. 

Designed to shorten the lifecycle of the claims process, our end-to-end property solution means that when disaster strikes, insurers and homeowners have one dedicated supplier managing the entire restoration and reinstatement process.  

This is extremely beneficial for both insurers and their customers, because it means homeowners no longer face lengthy waits for contractors and other parties to start reinstatement works after the restoration process is complete. This has been greatly received and we now move forward to go live. Very exciting! 

After a full day, it’s overnight in a hotel, ready for an insurer meeting locally the following day. 

Thursday

Today I have a customer meeting where we will look at what went well and not so well in the recent surge/burst pipe event of 2022 to 2023.

We delivered a presentation on specific topics relating to the event. It was great to debate on how we could improve the claims experience collectively and come away with some good actions and areas to develop. It’s great to partner with an insurer that is so focused on service delivery for their customers. 

Friday

Fridays are always spent with my teams looking at capacity. I have calls with each region to understand their pipeline of work for the week ahead.

We look at all job closures, to make sure the work was delivered to the highest of standards, and we look at any new jobs to ensure we can resource them properly. 

As another week ends, my final job of the week is spending some time looking at growth. The restoration and reinstatement business has grown significantly over the past three years, and by far the biggest challenge has been capacity.

I will be spending the last few hours of the week looking at talent acquisition, to make sure we have the right people, in the right roles and locations to support our ongoing growth. 

It’s a great way to end the week, looking at how far the R&R offer has come in such a short space of time. Now it’s time to head home to the family, and unwind over the weekend, ready to go again on Monday.