Together magazine &
September 2020
FROM THE FRONTLINE WIN AN iPHONE 7! Near Miss Campaign P6
Contents SMT Message ..................................................Page 2 A day in the life...................................................Page 5 Falling in love......................................................Page 10 / 11 Meet the Team...................................................Page 14
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Hello from your Senior Management Team... Paul Stockdill, Patrick Dignan, Richard Whitehouse and Nikki Thompson!
Our #OneFamily Album
Every issue we’ll be sharing photos and reviews received from happy dealers and customers – if you’d like to see more follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin!
Our partner AEF in France installed a Handicare Freecurve stairlift in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic.
As we head towards the end of what has been a year that many of us might prefer to forget, we wanted to reflect on some of the many positives we’ve learned as a result of our combined experiences. Our business and our #OneFamily is all about helping people to live their best possible life. We can and do come to work to make a difference. And in these unprecedented times, we have helped each other, our partners, and our customers to cope with uncertainty and anxiety. We know that times have been tough, at work and at home. But we know that we have come through this very difficult period and we will continue with our growth plans and build a stronger, more resilient business which recognises and values the contributions, ideas and commitment of our tremendous team.
Here’s Aldo Chesini working for our Italian business partner Cest srl, and wearing appropriate PPE while measuring stairs in Verona with our PhotoSurvey4D tool.
Edinburgh Stairlifts shared photos of an installation in a tenement building in the city. “Using the Handicare 4D kit, the rail could be built as tightly as possible against the handrail, so that there was maximum space for other stair users. Fantastic looking elevator”.
In August, just five months after the start of lockdown, we achieved a record-breaking level of sales. This follows on from Applications completing the most drawings in a month EVER in July, and some of the highest output of curved rails in 2020! In this issue of Together we celebrate your achievements and dig a little deeper into the working day of teams operating “on the frontline” who see every day the positive changes all your work enables. As our lives begin to resume a bit of a routine, with children back at school and many of us back “at work”, we – like you - are looking forward to a busy and successful final quarter of 2020. #StaySafe #StrongerTogether
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This beautiful Freecurve with nickel-plated rail was fitted into a stunning architect-designed house in Slovakia by our partner LetMo. Another very satisfied customer.
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A beautiful installation on a narrow staircase in Genk, Belgium. This Freecurve with Elegance chair was installed by our partner HF Lifts. As the installation took place during the lockdown, all necessary precautions were taken such as keeping a safe distance and disinfecting the stairlift.
In Australia people often live at a great distance from each other. If they want to visit a stairlift showroom, they have to drive a long way. Our partner “National Stairlifts” has therefore created a “demo bus” with two stairlifts which he drives to people’s homes so they can easily try before they buy!
This two-storey Handicare Freecurve stairlift with Classic seat was installed in Mönchengladbach, Germany, by our partner Rehabitat GmbH & Co KG.
Our Belgian dealer Strobbe Mobility Solutions BV sent us these photos while installing a Handicare Freecurve stairlift with an eight metre rail. The resident told us that after visiting the local hairdresser and trying the stairlift at the salon, he was so convinced about the stairlift that he wanted one of his own!
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On the frontline Our business is all about making every day life easier for people like Auntie Doris. And no-one knows that better than our Field Service Engineers who spend their days (and some of their nights too!) visiting customers and seeing the difference our stairlifts make first-hand. Our engineers are very much the public face of our business. Customers regularly praise their workmanship and their commitment to doing a great job, from cleaning up to demonstrating how the stairlift works. When the country went into lockdown back in March, their routines changed dramatically.
Many customers were reluctant to have people in their homes, and the team worked hard to show they were following all the COVID safety measures, wearing facemasks, gloves and bodysuits in record temperatures during the summer months. Regional Field Service Manager Julian Turnock says: “Our engineers really are Handicare’s frontline, dealing with customers face-to-face every day and sometimes having to handle extremely challenging situations. They are a brilliant bunch, with many years experience; some have been with the business for years. I think we all feel the same about what we do: we don’t come to work, we change people’s lives. That is something very special to do for a living.”
Bank Holiday Emergency… all in a day’s work for our on-call engineer Our call centre gets all sorts of calls from customers who are experiencing problems with their stairlifts. Some are resolved over the phone but our on-call engineers do visit many homes sometimes late into the night in order to make sure customers are safe and their equipment is in good working order. Customers and their family members can get understandably frustrated and fearful about how they will cope if there’s a problem. When an engineer arrives at a customer’s house, they have many things to deal with – not just the stairlift which may need fixing. It can be very hard for them, especially on the rare occasion when they can’t get the stairlift working again. On August Bank Holiday Monday one of our engineers attended an emergency call-out at the home of an 87-year-old amputee. She was so grateful for his help that two days later she sent this letter to express her thanks… Well done to Sam – and to all our engineers. Not every customer writes a letter like this one, but we know they probably feel the same.
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“I am writing to you to thank your clever engineer named Sam who managed to enable me to get off the lift, while being stuck on it. My niece was staying with me, and I always position my wheelchair away from the stairlift so I don’t touch it on the way down, so I can transfer into it. Unfortunately my niece didn’t position it, & as I came down, it got caught in the wheelchair. I understand the chain came off, but she was “in charge” so I did not help! Please, please, thank Sam for his brilliant help, late as it was, so he was tired having to work, so late. Please get a message from me – what service. As always great service. Best wishes to you all – especially Sam”.
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A day in the life…
Morning!
ENGINEERING TEAM
rk, we change “We don’t come to wo t is something tha and s people’s live a living.” very special to do for 7am – leave home in van OKAY LET’S FIT YOU A STAIRLIFT
First Job...
950+
7.30-8am – collect stairlift for install from depot or TNT
10am – arrive at customer’s house to begin install
SANDWICHES I’ll grab a quick sandwich
SANDWICHES
1pm – back in van travelling to next job
back in van travelling to next job
I’m here to service your stairlift
Service visit
Thanks for fiXing it!
breakdown visit
6pm – Arrive home
Obituary It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our dear friend and colleague Keith Champion. Keith was part of our Handicare family for 11 years between September 2009 and September 2020 as part of the Midlands Field Service Team. He will be deeply missed by us all. Our thoughts are with his family at this sad time. Should you need any support through this difficult time, please contact your line manager or HR. Alternatively, you can contact BHSF on 0800 1076145
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A NEAR MISS TODAY COULD BE AN ACCIDENT TOMORROW… Reporting a near miss is the first step to preventing incidents and accidents from happening in the future.
AN WIN NE 7 IPHO
We all have the ability to help improve the health and safety of our workplace. By completing a “Risk Report Card” when a near miss is identified we can all help to adapt processes to improve safety on site and in the field. We’ll enter every card received into the prize draw which we will draw in December to win a brand new iPhone 7. Every report will count as a single entry – so the more you report, the greater your chance of winning!
You can post your card in any of the blue boxes that are located in KWF PRODUCTION (BY THE DRINKS M/C) B81 Reception B82 Despatch office B82 office entrance (by car park) B84 R&D (BY DRINKS M/C) or email details to neil.tart@handicare.com with the subject Near Miss
If you see a RISK or a NEAR MISS wherever you are, please REPORT IT!
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Remember you could be in with the chance of WINNING AN IPHONE 7!
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Help for a good cause in Hereford
Shanghai Sights Our Chinese partner Henwell in Shanghai is proud of their new showroom in which our Handicare products are prominently displayed.
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Hereford dealer TPG DisableAids enlisted our help when a local charity support service turned to them for a lockdown project to improve access at their office. Writing on Facebook, TPG described how they were proud to be able to work together with Handicare... “During the lockdown HVOSS took the opportunity to make some improvements to their Broad Street offices. They were in the process of creating ‘The Base’ (a training and meeting room facility in the basement area) which will be made available to members and local groups. They contacted the team at TPG for advice regarding access and the we were happy to help! HVOSS chief executive Will Lindesay, said: “After discussing our work and what we were planning to provide with their team of Sales Assessors, TPG and Handicare offered to support us by supplying and fitting a stairlift free of charge. Thanks to their generosity and kindness we will have a fully accessible training area in the near future which will provide full access to all who wish to use it. We can’t thank TPG and Handicare enough for their generosity, helping us and the local good causes we are here to support.” Alastair Gibbs Managing Director for TPG DisableAids said: “As soon as we found out about the work being done in our community by HVOSS we knew it was right for us to help, working with our team of professional engineers we sought the assistance of Handicare who were more than happy to support us in providing access to the new training and meeting rooms.”
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Have you noticed new bins around the Kingswinford offices? They’re one of our new initiatives to achieve our long-term goal of reducing our environmental impact – and we’d love your help!
UK Director of Operations Richard Whitehouse, says:
Help us fight climate change!
“As a UK manufacturer and part of a global group operating throughout Europe and beyond, our sustainability challenges are many and varied, but we’re focused on our goal to reduce the impact of our activities. Over the past few years we’ve been working closely with our customers, partners, suppliers, and employees to identify the sustainability topics that matter most to them.” The new office waste management system is designed to ensure we achieve ZERO waste to landfill this year. “We’ve launched a new scheme designed to make sure that the waste generated by the team in our offices is collected in colour-coded bags so it can be sorted easily by our waste management provider,” said Richard.
PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU BIN IT RIGHT!
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What our customers say... Many people research products and services online before they make their decision who to buy from.
Review sites like Trustpilot and Feefo are popular and we encourage many of our customers to share their experience of our company, teams and products. Here are some of our recent Trustpilot reviews…
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Falling in love… with the Handicare 1100’s new rail options!
After months of preparation, we launched the first new rail options for the Handicare 1100 straight stairlift to our international business partners in August. We launched the “Fall in love with the Handicare 1100” campaign with a “teaser” email; a warm-up to tell them something was coming.
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We then launched the Zero-Intrusion option two weeks later and the Slide Track again two weeks later. Finally, we launched the Easy Hinge in mid-September. This by means of digital mailings, supported with flyers, photos and videos. In no less than six languages, simultaneously sent to partners in more than 50 countries. So now our business partners have even more options to sell the next-generation Handicare 1100!
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What is Zero-Intrusion? With this handy kit, the Handicare 1100 can be installed in such a way that it does not protrude at the top of the stairs. A simple and inexpensive solution if there is a door directly in front of the stairs. Which is often the case with stairs from a basement or garage.
What is a Slide Track? A unique invention by Handicare! The rail slides over the stairs with the lift and thus frees up the space at the bottom or at the top of the stairs. Fantastic feedback following field trials!
NEW assembly processes for mounting sets in NL & UK
To ensure that mounting sets are always complete, Assemblage in the NL factory uses a pick to light system. This system indicates with a lamp which part to take; it also knows when a part has been taken. It even indicates when you try to take a wrong part! This system has recently been expanded to allow the creation of multiple different sets at the same workplace. A similar system has been developed for Kingswinford to enable the assembly of the Slide Track mounting sets.
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Top tips for staying well at work Covid-19 has made everyone more conscious about their health and wellbeing, which many see as a positive outcome of this terrible global event. If you enjoyed PE with Joe Wicks, started running or walking more often, or did yoga with the kids during lockdown when you were at home you may
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be wondering if you can keep doing a daily exercise now that we’re all getting back to our familiar routines. Here are 5 ways to wellbeing that could help you create a new routine that will help you to be a happier and healthier human!
Connect Feeling close to, and valued by, other people is critical for promoting wellbeing and for acting as a buffer against mental ill health for people of all ages. With this in mind, try to do something different today and make a connection. • Talk to someone instead of sending an email • Speak to someone new • Ask how someone’s weekend was and really listen when they tell you • Give a colleague a lift to work or share the journey home with them.
Be active Regular physical activity is associated with lower rates of depression and anxiety across all age groups. But it doesn’t need to be particularly intense for you to feel good - slower-paced activities, such as walking, can have the benefit of encouraging social interactions as well providing some level of exercise. Today, why not get physical? Here are a few ideas:
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• Go for a walk at lunchtime • Walk into work - perhaps with a colleague – so you can ‘connect’ as well • Get off the bus one stop earlier than usual and walk the final part of your journey to work • Walk to someone’s desk instead of calling or emailing
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Take notice Studies have shown that being aware of what is taking place in the present directly enhances your well-being and savouring ‘the moment’ can help to reaffirm your life priorities. Take some time to enjoy the moment and the environment around you. Here are a few ideas: • Get a plant for your workspace • Have a ‘clear the clutter’ day • Take notice of how your colleagues are feeling or acting • Take a different route on your journey to or from work
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Learn Continued learning through life enhances self-esteem and encourages social interaction and a more active life. Why not learn something new today? Here are a few ideas:
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• Find out something about your colleagues • Sign up for a class • Read the news or a book • Do a crossword or Sudoku
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Give Individuals who report a greater interest in helping others are more likely to rate themselves as happy. Research into actions for promoting happiness has shown that committing an act of kindness once a week over a six-week period is associated with an increase in wellbeing. Can you commit a random act of kindness this week?
Remember our Mental Health First Aiders are trained to listen and help if you need someone to talk to about something that’s worrying you. A problem shared is a problem halved!
Our MHFAiders: Natalie Potter – Production Joe Hart - Production Mick Johns – Production Stuart Bucknall – Production Rachel Fisher – HR Georgina Jones – Service Delivery Elon Shakespeare – R&D Kelly Corrigan – TPS Clare Staniland – TPS Phil Hingley – Despatch Amy Suffolk – Apps Alternatively, you can call this 24/7 telephone counselling helpline and speak in confidence to an accredited counsellor for advice and info. BHSF Counselling number is: 0800 107 6145
Remember
FACTS
for a safer workplace
F A C T S
Face Coverings
Avoid crowded places
Clean your hands regularly
Two metre distance
Self isolate and book a test if you have symptoms
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Every issue we’ll be taking a virtual trip to meet one of Handicare’s teams in another part of the world…
Meet the team: France Thanks to Mélanie Pradines, Marketing Manager, France for taking part in our Q&A
Where are you based? Our office is based 40 minutes southwest of Paris, in the countryside. We moved three years ago to a bigger space, and we now have a nice showroom to welcome our customers, and two large spaces to invite our dealers to meetings and commercial or technical training sessions with all the necessary equipment.
When were operations in France established? In 2000 - at the time the company was Freelift, before the merger with Minivator when we joined the Handicare Group. Originally it operated from a one room office in the north of France and then step by step it became a whole network of more than 50 dealers and a much bigger office in the suburbs of Paris.
How many people are in the team?
Do you sell direct as well as through dealers?
The French team has eight members at the moment:
We used to do direct sales but now we only sell
• Didier Arnaud: Country Manager • Sylvia Bedi: Administration Manager • Jean-François Ducos: Sales Manager • Jean-Emmanuel Porro: Partnerships Manager • Mélanie Pradines: Marketing Manager
our products through dealers. Thanks to them, we cover the whole country. They are all approved and trained by our colleagues Jean-François and Robert, and they take care of sales, delivery, installation and maintenance. We say that our dealers are the real force of Handicare, because thanks to them, we
• Robert Vartagnian: Technical support
can provide the strength of an international group,
• Sonja Haeck and Florence Brunet: Customer service representatives
combined with local service! And that is a major
And in fact we used to call ourselves the French team,
point for us!
but we actually all work for France, French Belgium,
Do you manufacture stairlifts?
French Switzerland and Luxembourg.
No, all our stairlifts are manufactured in our factories in the UK and in the Netherlands.
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Getting to know…
Nirjit Mavi, Quality Engineer How long have you worked for Handicare? What attracted you to the job? 15 months at Handicare has absolutely flown! When researching the company and walking the site in my second interview, strongly indicated the immense potential to create a quality-driven, audit-ready culture. This role has been a golden opportunity to revive a Quality Management System and drive positive change, by re-defining quality practices to increase profitability to achieve business excellence. What’s the first thing you do when you get to work? First hour of the morning is crucial in setting my mindset for a successful day. I like to prioritise my tasks, review my to-do list created from the evening before and re-connect with the team. This involves listening and sharing our to-do lists, this helps me to re-focus on my sense of purpose and is a brilliant motivator. What’s your biggest work achievement to date? Difficult to choose! Spear-heading a major cost-saving strategy to reduce the cost of reworks related to Freecurve Powerpacks at KWF, with the support of Finance and Field Service. Re-designing the design control programme based on FDA inspection feedback at my previous workplace and training staff worldwide. What do you most enjoy about your job? Working in Quality makes you aware of the pitfalls and the major improvements needed to excel our service, systems and processes, to make sure we are effective in meeting our objectives. By interacting with various departments on a daily basis, I am constantly learning in how the business operates and I am able to identify and contribute to meaningful changes to advance our processes and systems to increase our reputation and trust with the customer.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received? It is never about where you start in life, it is always about where you end up. Tell us something about yourself that none of your colleagues know. I met and spoke to Sergio Aguero by chance at Ferrari world in Abu Dhabi, earlier this year. If you could invite any four individuals to a dinner party who would they be? Michelle Obama, Jacinda Ardern, Princess Diana & Melinda Gates. What was the last thing that made you laugh out loud? Watching the “pivot” episode from Friends.
In a word... Favourite food: Too hard…. tandoori mixed grill or seafood paella Favourite drink: Virgin Mojito Favourite holiday destination: Zanzibar, Tanzania Favourite band/artist: Too hard… Beyonce or Whitney Houston Favourite film or TV programme: House of Cards Favourite gadget: Sony wireless noise-cancelling headphones
What’s the hardest part of your job? Honestly, hearing and changing the mantra “Do not have time!”, has been extremely frustrating. Although, I have learnt by teaching and explaining to associates the overall benefit when implementing a new idea is key in creating a quality-driven environment. Achieving first-rate quality is a concerted effort!
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New additions to TPS family! At the end of July, the Trade Partner Support team in Kingswinford celebrated temp George Court’s move to a permanent position. George joined Handicare in December 2019, working with TPS to protect, retain and grow existing Trade Partners and also generate new business, working closely with the Business Development Managers. Just a month after this, George was celebrating again… becoming a Daddy for the second time! His wife, Sinead, gave birth to Erin Anne, pictured here with her older brother Bertie, on 27 August. Congratulations to George and his family!
Congratulations to all those celebrating long service awards! Jason Beresford Technical Support
Iain Currie Field Service Engineer (Scotland)
Neil Gillies Field Service Engineer (Scotland)
Stephen Hurles Field Service Engineer (Scotland)
Alex McMahon Field Service Engineer (Scotland)
Steven Paterson Field Service Engineer (Scotland)
Elon Shakespeare R & D Mechanical Design Engineer
5 years 5 years 5 years 5 years
Elon Shakespeare
5 years 5 years Jason Beresford
5 years The next issue of Together Magazine will be published in December. If you’d like to send us a story idea or photo please send an email to sarah.ferguson@handicare.com before Friday 27th November.
Together Magazine