Burgess Ford – Case Study
Client Overview
Burgess Ford are a new and used Ford dealer based in Keighley, West Yorkshire. It is a family owned business that was created by the late Walter Burgess in 1917 and has held the Ford franchise since 1923 with an excellent local reputation for customer service.
Their objective has always been to build relationships with local partners to assist them with solutions for Legal, Insurance and Health & Safety issues etc who have a similar ethos and heritage.
Proposal
In July 2009 Burgess Ford appointed David Barwick as Operations Director with a remit to re-structure the business and review current arrangements. It was imperative to find cost effective partners who could help to bring them into the 21st Century and work closely to create a long term solution.
As part of this David approached Andrew Pearson of Wilby Ltd to look at the insurance arrangements and the professional approach of the Insurance team laid the foundations to explore other opportunities to work together.
The Health & Safety philosophy at the business appeared to be dormant, and highlighted the team at Burgess Ford could be exposed to needless risk and injury. David was talking to two other Health & Safety Consultants, but was introduced to Mark Dalton of Wilby Risk Management.
The Result
Both the insurance and risk management departments at Wilby worked closely with Burgess Ford to ensure that shortcomings in insurance cover were dramatically improved and more cost effective. The Health & Safety management system allowed the company to take a more proactive approach to risk management. The in house claims team at Wilby also worked hard to ensure that the outstanding claim was dealt with favourably.
Customer Feedback
David Barwick, Operations Director at Burgess Ford, felt that Wilby’s unique and bespoke approach helped to secure the insurance and risk management of the business and stated: "Even though we are only a small local business in the scheme of things, it has not felt that way. The whole team at Wilby have always delivered an exceptional and very personal customer service and have always delivered on promises made."
"The documents they have produced have been to a very high standard, as well as easy to understand As a result we are confident that we are well on the road to complying with our legal obligations. We certainly made the right choice and would recommend Wilby’s to others looking for a cost-effective way of easing the pressure of compliance in these challenging times."
