SMT Message

Hello from your Senior Management Team...

Paul Stockdill, Patrick Dignan, Richard Whitehouse and Nikki Thompson!

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.

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

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.

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”.

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.

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!

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! 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.

This two-storey Handicare Freecurve stairlift with Classic seat was installed in Mönchengladbach, Germany, by our partner Rehabitat GmbH & Co KG.

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. “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”.