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Shortlist announced for the Medal for Entrepreneurship

Focus on the new freedoms and their effect across the UK

How technology is powering the patient care revolution

Gala night to celebrate the very best in customer service

December 2015

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THE ESSENTIALS

Publisher Bradley Scheffer | Editor Daniel Evans | Production editor Dan Geary

Paul Barry-Walsh

Jim Duffy

Kelly Hoppen

Luke Johnson

Jamie Oliver

Paul is the founder and CEO of Safetynet, which grew into one of the UK’s leading providers of business continuity services.

He launched the Fredericks Foundation in 2001, which has become a significant microfinance organisation, with the aim of helping the disadvantaged become self-employed. It has so far funded more than 600 businesses.

Jim, who is based in Glasgow, developed the model for Entrepreneurial Spark (or ESpark as it generally known) in 2012, creating a start-up renaissance initially in Scotland but which is now spreading with hubs across the UK. ESpark has supported 350 firms with a combined turnover of £41million last year.

Kelly is an interior designer, author and proprietor of Kelly Hoppen Interiors. From 2013 to 2015, she appeared on BBC Two’s Dragons’ Den. Keen to champion and nurture younger and older British entrepreneurs, Kelly is an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust and the Prince’s Initiative for Mature Enterprise.

Luke is best known for his involvement with Pizza Express.

He is also part-owner and chairman of Patisserie Valerie, Gail’s Artisan Bakery and Feng Sushi. A former chairman of Channel 4, in 2012 Luke was appointed chair of Startup Britain, the national campaign to stimulate start-up growth in the UK. In 2013, he launched the Centre for Entrepreneurs.

Jamie is well known as a chef, restaurateur and media personality, as well as for his books and television shows. In 2002, he created the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation, which runs the Fifteen Apprentice Programme. The programme recruits apprentices and trains them to become professional chefs, targetting the young unemployed who have fallen out of mainstream education.

Entrepreneurship award: the shortlist revealed

Timothy Barnes, Director of UCL Advances, announces the seven nominees for the first UCL/Business Reporter Medal for Entrepreneurship

Emma Sinclair Emma co-founded Mission Capital in 2004 and then took the company public, becoming the youngest person in the UK to float a company, having done so at 29.

She also founded and then sold Target Parking. In 2014, Emma was appointed UNICEF’s first business mentor. Her role is as mentor to Building Young Futures, a partnership between UNICEF and Barclays.

UCL AND BUSINESS REPORTER are proud to launch the UCL Medal for Entrepreneurship to recognise an entrepreneur who has made a real difference by using their business skills to give back to society.

Encouraging entrepreneurship is important at UCL (University College London). We run one of the largest centres for entrepreneurship at any university in the world, supporting student start-ups as well as small and medium-sized businesses. We help anyone who wants to learn about, start or grow a business. Our activities build on a history of entrepreneurial alumni that includes the founders of PwC, Giraffe restaurants and polling firm YouGov. Our graduates have set up many new firms – recent success stories include coffee waste recycling company bio-bean (www.bio-bean.com), which employs 20 people and has a production plant in Cambridgeshire. Like other student businesses, bio-bean received support from UCL Advances (www.ucl.ac.uk/advances), the centre for entrepreneurship at UCL. UCL’s excellent research output

gives us a phenomenal base of know-how that we can draw on when seeking new business ideas or expertise to help existing ventures.

We recently asked Business Reporter readers to nominate entrepreneurs who have used their skills to provide opportunity for others. We are looking for someone who meets three main criteria: • C andidates need to have founded and sustained a successful business.

• T hey must show that they have “given back” by applying their entrepreneurial skills for the benefit of others – more than simply writing a cheque.

• They need to be active in the UK. They do not need to be British but their business and “giving back” activities should be here.

After careful consideration of the entries, we came up with our shortlist of nominees. We will now hold a judging panel, and the winner will be announced in 2016.

John Timpson John joined his family’s firm Timpson, best known for shoe repairs and key cutting, in the 1960s.

In 1983 he led a management buyout and headed the firm’s later expansion. The firm runs one of the most established schemes for helping ex-offenders find work.

It has been running for about 12 years and the company has 400 ex-offenders working at all levels of the business, including ten shop managers.

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Calls for improved mortgage market for the over 65s THE COUNCIL OF Mortgage Lenders (CML) is calling for action from regulators, government and the mortgage industry to improve the market for older consumers who wish to legitimately borrow in retirement.

Over a third of new mortgages being taken out today will extend beyond the borrower’s 65th birthday. However, less than 1 per cent of all new lending has been to the

65 and over age group. By 2034, the number of people aged 65 or over is expected to increase to 17 million from 11 million, representing around 25 per cent of the population.

According to the CML, to meet the lending requirements for those in retirement age, funders and specialist manufacturers will need to innovate and collaborate to ensure new products are meeting their demands.

Paul Smee, director general at the CML, says: “There is no silver bullet to address the complex issues involved in the housing and financial needs of older borrowers.

“Through collaboration we should aim for consistently good advice, sensible housing solutions, and products that offer the financial outcomes that many older consumers are looking for, without disproportionate risk to lenders and advisers.”

Life insurers in auto-enrolment ‘to fall by 50%’

By Joanne Frearson BY 2020 THE number of “premier league” life insurers in the auto-enrolment market is likely to halve, according to a study by the Pensions Institute at Cass Business School, while assets under management will double from £280billion at present to £550billion by 2020.

Exits will be due to the increasing cost of regulatory compliance, including capital requirements and the potential growth of overseas markets, for example, in Europe, the US and Asia-Pacific.

Currently the number of major providers in the market is about 14, but by 2020 it is likely that around 90 per cent of pension

assets will be owned by only five tosevenmajorproviders.DrDebbie Harrison, visiting professor at the Pensions Institute and co-author ofthereport, says:“By2020 several well-known life companies will no longer exist in their present form, or at all. Some will be bought wholesale; others will be sold-off piecemeal. At this watershed in the history of UK life companies, clarity of understanding of market conditions, together with a clear vision for the future, is essential for survival.”

Consolidation triggers will include the increase in capital requirements under Solvency II (from January 2016) and annual stress-testing under the Financial Stability Board’s (FSB’s) requirements. This is expected to

affect the largest life companies and it is possible they could put greater emphasis on business lines that are less capital-intensive. Sales of annuities are likely to be reduced by 2020 to about 50 per cent of pre-2014 levels.

Demand is also anticipated in the major master-trust autoenrolment market run by players such as NEST, NOW: Pensions and B&CE’sThePeople’sPension(TPP).

A master trust is a multi-employer occupational pension scheme where each employer has its own division within the master arrangement, and generally has lower operating costs and g reater simplicity than a single-employer

By 2020, it is estimated the government’s new auto-enrolment pensions will be controlled by a small handful of life companies

scheme. It is predicted smaller employers will use master trusts for auto-enrolment.

In order to prepare the industry forthesepotentialissues,thereport recommends the FCA, Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Pensions Regulator (TRP) should develop, agree and publish a clear regulatory position with the government on how this will be supervised. The report calls for an open debate to discuss these issues in the industry.

Clive Bannister (inset), chief executive of the Phoenix Group, the sponsor of the research, says: “In this important report, the Pensions Institute presents the first independent review of the future oftheUKlifeindustryintheprivatesector pensions market.

“Some of the findings and questions will be uncomfortable reading for life companies of open and closed books of business, but

the industry needs to acknowledge and address them. We support the call on the government, the regulators and the pensions industrytoestablishanopendebate on the many issues raised in the report, and look forward to facilitating this debate, which is essential for the protection of policyholders, and the credibility of the UK private pensions market and the sector as a whole.”

How do you engage someone in a few seconds, and keep them engaged enough to monetise their interaction?

Find out the answers to this and more at DCS 2016.

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Autoenrolment tsunami gaining pace More than 200,000 people have emptied their pension pot or withdrawn cash from it after the relaxation of rules on accessing retirement savings this year

A

204,581 people have accessed their pension policies within three months following the pension reform 137 savers cashed in entire pension pots worth £250,000 or more, despite the fact that only 25 per cent of such a lump sum withdrawal would tax-free

£35,000

More than 47,000 withdrew pots worth up to £30,000

£30,000

85% were able to access their pension money without paying an exit fee

£25,000

More than 100,000 people faced charges of £1,000 or more

£20,000

About 13,000 of these paid more than £5,000 80 to 90 per cent of people could access their pension money without needing to transfer providers 71, 455 consumers have accessed some form of income drawdown option

Average size of pension fund used to buy an annuity

£15,000

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

£5,000

2003

120,688 consumers have accessed some form of cash withdrawal

2002

£10,000

Projected percentage of UK population at state pension age or older

30%

31%

28%

32%

37%

36%

2015

2016

2020

2030

2040

2050

Over-55s finding new pension arrangements difficult to grasp MANY OLDER people are confused ab out t he ne w s t ate p e n s ion arrangements due to come in next year.

Nearly a quarter of people (24 per cent) people aged over 55 did not know about the new flat-rate pension, which is set to launch in April, according to a survey by Aviva. Many people who will not be eligible for the pension believe that the changes will apply to

them, according to the Real Retirement report.

Some 16 per cent of people aged over 75 who were surveyed think they will get the full flat-rate state pension, even though they are at least 10 years older than the qualifying age for the scheme.

Meanwhile, 27 per cent of people aged between 55 and 64, most of whom

will be drawing their pension for the first time under the new rules, were unaware of the new state pension.

The full new state pension will be set at £155.65 per week. Those who are eligible will need to have been born after April 6 1951 if they are a man or April 6 1953 if they are a woman.

The aim of the new system is to simplify the pension rules and give people a clearer idea of how much income they will eventually have.

But anyone who has already reached state pension age, or will reach it before April 6 2016, will continue to get their pension under the current system. Aviva found that nearly two-fifths (42 per cent) of people aged between 55 and 64 years old were unsure if they will be entitled to the full flat-rate state pension.

s we come to the end of 2015, a further 154,000 companies have had their auto-enrolment staging date and hopefully are now compliant with the regulations. More importantly, they have added value to their employment benefits package for staff.

For those employers who think they are under the radar and haven’t yet complied and have gone past their staging date without action, be assured you are on a list so act now and set up your auto-enrolment scheme.

Why you as an employer need to start planning It is a legal requirement to comply with the auto-enrolment legislation. To do nothing will cost you more money in the end.

Why it matters Because as a responsible employer you have an obligation to your employees to ensure they receive what they are entitled to. Because you need to ensure you remain competitive in order to retain your key employees.

Risks of non-compliance It is important that employers understand the risks to them with whatever Qualifying Workplace Pension and/or auto-enrolment solution they choose. If the company is found non-compliant there is a risk of fines.

Where do you start? Talk to your accountant or sign up online quickly and become compliant in eight minutes with the Workplace Pension from Carey Pensions.

Christine Hallett is CEO of Carey Pensions Contact Carey Pensions on 03301241510 to get your free information pack or apply online at www. directautoenrolment.co.uk

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Future pensioners at serious risk of poverty, says OECD report

By Joanne Frearson FUTURE GENERATIONS are likely to find their pension entitlements much less generous than today’s and may face serious risk of poverty in their retirement, despite government reforms making pension systems more financially sustainable, according to an OECD report.

Retirement ages have risen substantially, with retirement at 67 becoming the new 65 in many countries. Several countries are planning to move towards 70, including the Czech Republic, Denmark, Ireland, Italy and the United Kingdom.

Since the early 2000s, effective retirement ages have continued to increase steadily, especially for women. Employment rates of people aged 55 to 64 years have increased sharply in many countries: from 45 to 66 per cent in Germany, for example, from 31 to 46 per cent in Italy and from 52 to 57 per cent on average across the OECD. The report, Pensions At A Glance 2015, says that about half of OECD countries have taken measures in the past two years to make their systems more affordable in the long term, and a third have made efforts to strengthen safety nets and help some v u l nerable g roups of pensioners.

However, significant challenges remain, with population ageing accelerating in many countries

partly as a result of changing labour market trends. Many of today’s retirees, at least men, worked for most of their lives in stable jobs. But a job for life, or even an intermittent career, might not be the norm for people starting out today.

Unemployment rates, especially among younger people, remain very high in many countries, as do longterm unemployment rates among older workers. A decline in jobs with open-ended contracts and the parallel rise in temporary and often precarious jobs are also reducing the continuity of contributions to pensions that workers can claim in retirement.

Time out of work means time out of the pension system in some countries. As a result, many more people will receive lower pensions when they retire, says the OECD. Angel Gurría, secretary-general at t he OE C D, s ay s: “ Mo s t governments have made efforts to bring public pension systems on a

What savings, dear?

One in 10 people aged over 40 who lives with a partner is hiding secret savings from their other half. A survey for Prudential of more than 1,000 over-40s living with a partner found that 10 per cent had secret savings, investments or pension pots that their other half did not know about. The average value of these secret stashes was £30,300.

sustainable path. While these are steps in the right direction, there is now a growing risk in some countries that future pensions will not be sufficient.

“The long-term challenge is to design policies today that are flexible enough to adapt to the uncertainties of tomorrow’s world of work, while ensuring adequate living standards for retirees.”

In light of this likely scenario, some countries need to reassess their safety nets for pensioners who have not contributed enough for a minimum pension. Some OECD countries, such as Chile, Korea, Mexico, Turkey and the United States should consider increasing the value of safety-net payments.

Most countries also index their first-tier pensions to prices, so their value compared with earnings declines over time, as prices tend to increase less than wages. Price i nde x at ion i s at t rac t ive to governments facing budgetary constraints, but also runs the risk of fuelling pensioner poverty as safety nets will lose value over time, according to the report.

The report also highlighted the challenge of the current low-growth, low-interest rate environment for savers and financial ser vice providers offering life insurance and annuities. In addition, the mortality tables used by insurers in many countries do not take fully into account projected improvements in life expectancy.

Listen up! Let me tell you a secret…

W

hat secret? In 2005, HMRC announced we could all transfer our pensions ex-UK to a Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme (QROPS).

Were you aware? Were you told? If you weren’t, and you always planned to retire outside the UK, that’s worrying. Would or should you move to a QROPS, or are you best staying with a UK scheme? Perhaps it doesn’t bother you that your pension is managed in the UK “a la UK resident” while you reside elsewhere living and managing finances in a different currency to sterling.

These rules are not new, so there is no excuse if your financial adviser never told you about your QROPS eligibility.

Missing out aligning your pension to your country of future or actual residence is a major consideration, and it could have serious implications if you were never told.

This is even more concerning when QROPS and pension transfers out of the UK have been around for years (we did our first ex-UK transfer back in 1995) – but few UK schemes and

advisers want to discuss a subject of which they have no experience or knowledge. So if you hold right of abode in the EU, or citizenship of another country, and you never knew that QROPS existed, you might be missing out (that’s all of us). It is especially concerning if your UK adviser never mentioned that you could be managing your affairs so very differently.

QROPS might just be a vital cog in your retirementplanning focus. If you are a non-UK national or will never retire in the UK, or are someone with lifetime allowance issues, perhaps it’s time to look outside the traditional box.

Double-taxation agreements and currency movements provide exciting opportunities when linked to a QROPS. How strange if they were an option not considered, when they might be your ideal solution. They might not be for everyone, but they’re at least worth a look.

Geraint Davies is managing director, Montfort International 01483 202072 www.montfort-intl.com

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Antibiotic resistance breakers to rejuvenate patient care PROFESSOR Anthony Coates, a professor of medical microbiology based at St George’s hospital in south London, is keen to tell a story. It starts quite a long time ago – a few billion years ago, in fact – so we’d better get going.

The professor has just been asked to give a brief history of antibiotics. “It all started at least three billion years ago with some micro-organisms called bacteria which fight each other,” he says.

“They fight each other using arrows which are poisons and which we call antibiotics. And the bacteria defend themselves against these arrows with shields.”

Fast forward to 1928 and Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin. “It was the first arrow (or antibiotic) which was used widely in the 1940s for human disease,” explains Professor Coates.

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Professor Anthony Coates (inset) of St George’s Hospital, who is developing resistance breakers to extend the usefulness of existing antibiotics

“This was followed by a burst of activity when about 200 antibiotics were developed between 1940 and the late 1970s but, since then unfortunately, humans have produced many fewer antibiotics.”

Professor Coates, who is working with Helperby Therapeutics in this venture, is concerned that, as antibiotics become less and less useful, the healthcare implications become

increasingly serious. Many surgical operations, cancer treatments and care of preterm infants would become too dangerous to undertake without effective antibiotics.

“The problem is that bacteria make new shields – called mutations – on a daily basis,” explains Professor Coates.

“They make bigger shields, they make wider ones and they make thicker ones to defend themselves against antibiotics

Video special: healthcare technology Technology has the potential to transform healthcare and, over the last few months, Business Reporter has linked up with companies at the centre of this revolution. To catch up with the latest thinking go to business-reporter. co.uk/video/category/healthcare

and we haven’t produced new antibiotics properly for 40 years. You can imagine that bacteria have many more resistance mechanisms than we have antibiotics.

Now some antibiotics in some countries are basically useless – they are not active against many of the bacteria which are affecting humans.

“This development is already having a very marked effect on healthcare in this country but it is going to have a much bigger one by, say, 2050. The recent O’Neill report commissioned by the government suggests that overall cost to the human race by 2050 of not tackling anti-microbial resistance will be about $100trillion – about 2 per cent of global GDP. And the number of deaths would go up from about 700,000 a year now to 10 million a year by 2050.”

So what are the options? “It takes

between 10 and 20 years to make a new antibiotic,” says Professor Coates.

“However, producing an antibiotic resistance breaker is a rather faster process, probably between five to 10 years. The antibiotic resistance breakers are a quicker way to address this problem because you’re reusing old antibiotics.

“In the shorter term it’s going to be easier, faster and less risky to make antibiotic resistance breakers which rejuvenate our existing drugs.

Furthermore, I think in 50 years’ time when resistance has emerged to all of these antibiotic resistance breakers we’ll be able to do the whole thing again, making another set of resistance breakers and, perhaps in 150 years’ time, we’ll be able to do it again. And so we will be able to reuse our old antibiotics repeatedly over the coming decades.”

The big questions What will be the next breakthrough in healthcare technology?

Robert Morris Medical director Optegra Eye Health Care At Optegra, a specialist eye hospital group with 23 hospitals, technological advances are changing patients’ lives. Already, miniature telescopes overcome central vision loss and multifocal lenses offer unsurpassed levels of vision. And in the near future, stem cell transplants will tackle conditions which once meant certain blindness.

Vitally though, Optegra foresees an advancement in the overall approach to eye health, and not just technology in isolation.

Optegra are passionately re-engineering and integrating healthcare delivery – by treating all

eye conditions under one roof. This approach allows a concentration of expertise, with specialist ophthalmic surgeons collaborating to treat any eye condition presented. These leading surgeons research, teach and treat the A to Z of ophthalmology. Routine and complex eye conditions are all treated in one medical establishment, with speed and efficiency.

Our newest hospital, Optegra Eye Hospital London, in the Harley Street area, embodies this approach as a centre of excellence, equipped with the latest technologies enabling a personalised approach. Optegra firmly believes this is the way to continually improve medical outcomes.

0808 168 6804 www.optegra.com

What are the challenges facing healthcare technology in 2016?

Douglas Bradshaw Medical practice head The Technology Partnership The challenge is two-fold: to address intensifying needs within ever-more constrained budgets.

A greater proportion of patients are suffering from chronic conditions associated with old age which can often only be treated and not cured. Healthcare has now evolved to be administered by lay carers in the home rather than by professionals in controlled care settings.

This demographic change has led to the need for safe, intuitive devices and systems

that do not require expert training or knowledge. However these changes only serve to exacerbate cost increases further, resulting in an unmet need to deliver an ever-improving standard of care at a low cost.

This challenge can only be viewed as a great opportunity for innovation in healthcare technology, where the disciplines of human factors engineering and industrial design can create insight and ideas for products and systems that are both safe and intuitive. medical@ttp.com www.ttp.com

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All in the wrist: how wearable tech is part of the healthcare revolution

By Joanne Frearson INNOVATIONS IN wearable technology are helping to improve and change people’s lives. Smart glasses are giving sight back to people who are partially blind, while wrist devices are helping to monitor people’s health.

Epson, traditionally known for its printers, is making its move into this area and has developed wearable technology which is having a big impact in the healthcare industry. In a project with Oxford University, Epson’s Moverio smart glasses are helping to give partially blind people the ability to recognise faces and facial expressions.

“This is a very interesting case,” says Minoru Usui (inset), president of Epson.

“We are working with the university to develop the application. Epson’s real strength is in creating original hardware.

“There are a lot of organisations that have very good ideas about creating applications. One of our tasks is to work with these organisations to build up applications one by one.”

The joint venture has involved neuroscientists, engineers and technologists, and works by using a 3D camera to create images of the world which highlight nearby shapes a n d obj e c t s on a small transparent display on t he lenses.

WhatsApp, Doc? Nearly 90 per cent of doctors in Brazil use WhatsApp to communicate with their patients.

A global study of how the medical world is beginning to use social media has shown that British doctors are slow to embrace the latest digital developments. Just 2 per cent of British doctors have used WhatsApp to contact patients. In Italy, the figure is 62 per cent, and in Brazil the figure rises to 87 per cent.

In the UK there are more than 360,000 people who are partially sighted or registered legally blind. Although a large number of people classified as legally blind do retain some of their vision, a big challenge for them is picking out faces and expressions.

Not being able to see facial expressions can hinder social interactions. Partially sighted people who have used the Moverio glasses have reported seeing their guide dogs for the first time, or being able to make out the surroundings where they are walking.

The glasses are also helping them with safety issues such as falling in areas in which they can’t make out the details. The potential to benefit others is huge, believes Usui. According to the Royal National Institute for the Blind,

the glasses could assist more than 150,000 legally blind people in the UK, as well as more than 15 million worldwide.

Usui says: “We are focused on developing unique ideas. Many people ignore the importance of production technology to make something efficiently and well.”

The strategy at Epson since Usui became president in 2008 is to make products which the market was asking for. After becoming president, he felt the company was losing its competitive edge and wanted to refocus it. Part of this involved looking at creating technology that could improve the quality of people’s lives.

Epson is also developing wristbased devices, which have highly accurate sensors to monitor someone’s health over a long period.

“This is still a very small business for Epson, but we think it is one that it is going to grow rapidly,” says Usui. “The wearables area offers a tremendous opportunity for us. This is something we want to focus on.”

Data gathered through the wrist device is analysed using cloud technology and will give people the ability to monitor their health 24 hours a day, while healthcare professionals will be able to provide appropriate support in real time using the information.

Usui explains Epson’s focus is on user needs instead of worrying about what

7

Clockwise: Epson’s Moverio BT-200 smart glasses; the Runsens SF-810; the Pulsense PS-100

the competition is up to. In Japan, the firm is trialling its wrist device to help companies monitor and improve their employees’ health.

Usui says: “It is a government regulation that all companies over a certain size have to have a health union.

We provide the wrist devices to the health

unions and employees of the companies use them to monitor their health and provide them with dietary advice.

“We have around 15,000 people using this service in Japan and we are actually earning mone y based on supplying the service rather than just the hardware.”

Supporting people with their everyday health needs

T

he NHS is looking to make the best use of its strained resources and stretched budgets as it faces the challenges of an ageing population.

At the same time, our everyday health needs are increasing. However, innovation in technology is opening up new opportunities and could change the way we access healthcare.

We know people want to have more control over their health and wellbeing, which is why we’re using technology to allow people to manage their health when and where it suits them. Our new online service myWellbeing helps

people fit GP appointments around their lifestyles. They can speak to a GP over the phone or webcam rather than face a lengthy wait.

It means, for example, the parent of a child who has fallen sick during the night doesn’t have to wait until the morning to call their GP surgery to book an emergency appointment. Instead, they can request to speak to a qualified and practising GP at a time that suits them. myWellbeing customers can also find tips on healthy lifestyles, get advice on how to combat stress, access a 24/7 counselling and advice helpline and use a private prescription service, which can deliver anywhere in the UK.

myWellbeing is one of the benefits of our health cash plans, which help customers manage the cost of their everyday healthcare, such as eye tests and dental check-ups.

Technology plays a large part in other aspects of our lives, and we are seeing this shift into health which will only continue in the future.

Simplyhealth is the UK’s leading health cash plan provider. It also supports people with their everyday health through dental plans, mobility products and daily living aids. To find out more visit www.simplyhealth.co.uk or follow us on Twitter @SimplyhealthUK

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8

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EXCLUSIVE Joanne Frearson

I

N SEPTEMBER 2001, volunteer firefighter Patrick Hardison entered a burning home on a rescue search in Senatobia, Mississippi.

The roof collapsed on him, leaving him with disfiguring burns across his entire face, head, neck and upper torso.

He lost his eyelids, ears, lips, and most of his nose, as well as his hair, including his eyebrows.

Despite having more than 70 operations, Hardison was unable to return to normal life. He wore a baseball cap, sunglasses and an ear prosthetic to avoid the stares of others. Children would be scared of him. He was very concerned about what people thought of him. When he went out people would question him about what happened.

But Hardison’s life is now slowly returning to normal, thanks to amazing advancements in healthcare technology which has made it much easier to perform facial transplants. The surgery, led by Dr Eduardo Rodriguez, plastic surgeon at the NYU Langone Medical Center, was undertaken in August this year. The operation took 26 hours and set new standards of care in this field. It involved 100 physicians, nurses, and technical and support staff.

The team worked in two adjoining operating rooms – in one room was the donor, David P Rodebaugh, 26, an Ohio-born Brooklyn artist and cycling enthusiast, who had died from injuries

“The longer we have a patient exposed under general anaesthesia the more potential for complications” sustained in an accident. In the other was Patrick Hardison.

Through the use of pioneering techniques in technology such as 3D modelling and vascular imaging, Dr Rodriguez was able to perform the transplant to precisely match the donor’s face to Hardison’s.

I track down Dr Rodriguez in New York, where he is based, and he tells me that the 3D modelling and techniques involved with that type of innovation were absolutely instrumental, and benefit us in a variety of ways.

He said: “We have a CT scan data of the recipient and we outline how we want to perform the reconstruction. The data from the CT scans can be uploaded on a special programme, where we plan the replacement.

“In Patrick’s case, there were significant segments of the facial skeleton, which included the cheekbones, the nasal bones and the mandible, that were going to be replaced. Before we replaced them we wanted these pieces to fit perfectly, like a puzzle.

“It comes up with a plan for a design that is patient-specific. We have an idea on how we are going to make the bone cuts. In other words, it would fit onto the donor as well as fit on to the recipient.

“Although we may find a donor that resembles or looks like the recipient, there are always

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The big interview Dr Eduardo Rodriguez

Revolutionary face transplant gives brave fireman a reason to keep on living Patrick Hardison: badly injured in house fire

After ten years of living with the results of burns sustained in a fire (centre), former firefighter Patrick Hardison is now the beneficiary of pioneering transplant surgery (right)

discrepancies that exist in the height, the width and the projection of the face. We take those measurements into accounts and, based on that data, we collect from CT scans and radiographs – we can actually accommodate for the fitting of those different segments.”

Without this type of technology, a lot of guesswork would be involved, creating many more challenges around the preparation behind the face transplant.

“It saves a tremendous amount of time,” Dr Rodriguez says. “Keep in mind when we are doing this operation we have to take care of the patient. The longer we have a patient exposed under general anaesthesia the more potential for complications. The quicker we can get the patient out of the operation room the better.”

The other technology Dr Rodriguez used is interoperability vascular mapping, or

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Under the skin To ensure that Patrick Hardison’s new face – from donor David Rodebaugh, a bike mechanic who was left brain dead after a cycling accident – fitted perfectly, his skull was scanned and custom-built prosthetics attached to his cheekbones, nasal arch and jaw.

Right: Dr Rodriguez and the medical team at NYU Langone Medical Center: above: Rodriguez and Hardison after the surgery

interoperability vascular imaging. It is an intervascular dye injected into the body so as to identify the vascularity of the tissues.

He explains: “Before we remove the recipient’s face, we wanted to confirm that the donor face was 100 per cent viable. We imaged the donor scalp to ensure that it was viable. It confirmed 100 per cent viability of the eyelids, which transplanted as well as the entire face, the lips, the nose, the ears and the entire scalp. That technology is something we did not have less than five years ago.”

Using these techniques, Dr Rodriguez was able to transplant the donor’s eyelids and the muscles that control blinking.

The transplantation of the donor’s eyelids and blinking mechanisms was particularly important to the surgery’s success, as Hardison was in danger of losing his sight and had been

unable to perform independent daily tasks, such as driving. Blinking enables the body to appropriately hydrate and clean the eyes to prevent infection and preserve vision.

Other milestones in Hardison’s surgery included the transplantation of the ears and ear canals, transplantation of selective bony structures from the donor, including portions of the chin, cheeks, and the entire nose, and precise placement of patient-specific metal

“We are beginning to appreciate that these problems we thought were unsolvable are no longer categorised that way”

plates and screws to ensure the proper contour and symmetry of the transplanted face.

Dr Rodriguez says: “This technology has been very helpful. The devices that we use for rigid fixation and plate and the screws are becoming so small, yet so strong. That allows us to hold all these bone segments in position, without them being palpable through the soft tissue of the face.”

A lot of the technological devices that Dr Rodriguez used were first used to help other medical problems. “All these different pieces of engineering come from trying to find unique ways of solving difficult problems,” he says. “For example, interoperability navigation was primarily used by neurosurgeons for the identification of tumours.

“Plates and screws were initially used for orthopaedic-type applications. We figured out

that we could develop the same type of plates for the cranial facial skeletons if they were made smaller and less palpable.

“We are always dealing with problems in the operating room. Working with bright scientists and engineers that can listen to surgeons to solve these interoperative issues is very exciting.”

According to Dr Rodriguez, the success of the surgery was evident within the final hours of being on the operating table. Hardison’s new face, particularly his new lips and ears, were robust with colour, indicating circulation had been restored.

The hair on his scalp, as well as the beard on his face, also began to grow back immediately.

On the third day of recovery after the swelling began to diminish, he was able to blink using his new eyelids.

Dr Rodriguez says the transplant has given Hardison the ability to blend into society and his community. “He does not stick out like a sore thumb,” says Dr Rodriquez. “That’s all he has ever wanted – just to be another normal person in whatever social environment. No one would have to ask what happened to him.

“There are going to be a lot of great opportunities for him. He wants to become a productive member of society and be able to work and provide for his family. That would not have been possible the way he lived beforehand.”

Hardison will continue to go through extensive rehabilitative therapy, including physical therapy

Continued on page 11

December 2015

10

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How 3D modelling can help repair damaged knee joints

I

ntelligent implant technology is helping give people who suffer from joint pain a second chance to live a normal, active and pain-free life where previous treatments have failed.

Rosie Cunningham Thomas, CEO at Episurf Medical, says: “You have a group of people for whom there really isn’t a treatment.

These are the people between the ages of 40 and 60 who may have failed earlier treatment intervention for cartilage damage.

“They may have had arthroscopic investigations. They may have had a little bit of cartilage shaving. They may have some of the biological treatments that are meant to stimulate and regenerate cartilage. Often those treatments fail or they do not continue to produce results because as we age our ability to reproduce cartilage declines.”

Until recently it was difficult for these people to get treatment until their knees were degenerated to a point they needed a full knee replacement. In some cases they were having to wait 10 to 15 years to get an operation.

Thomas says: “What that means for people is they are invariably losing mobility and are

in pain in the prime of their life. It becomes a very difficult situation for people to manage. We have had patients who cannot work because of this.”

But technology at Episurf is changing all of that. By 3D-modelling a patient’s MRI scan, injured areas can be marked out and the width and depth of the cartilage damage and the quality of the underlying bone assessed.

The 3D modelling provides an exact anatomical replica of a person’s knee and can inform the surgeon specifically where the damage is. From the model, a small Episealer implant the size of a 20 pence piece is created to fix the area where the lesion is.

It is guaranteed to be a perfect fit as it is built from the 3D model, which is unique to the person’s knee. As it is made out of cobalt chrome with titanium and hydroxyapatite-coated surfaces, this encourages fixation without the need for cement or screws.

The tools used for the operation are also made from 3D printing and specially designed for the patient. Thomas says: “Patients are back to relatively normal

rd Standa pant im e kne

mobility generally within a six-to-12-week period post-operation, and are pain-free. That is quite an advance on the bigger procedures – getting back to work and so on is important for a lot of people. An ordinary knee replacement would take a person six to nine months to recover from.”

The product is available in the UK on the NHS and it is being used privately as well.

Episealer t knee implan

In Europe, it is possible this procedure could help about 600,000 people a year.

Episurf is also looking at other uses for the technology, such as using 3D modelling to assess the needs of anyone with cartilage damage and not just joint pain. No decisions have been made as yet, but it is likely that this type of technology will soon be able to help many more. info@episurf.com www.episurf.com

The most valuable healthcare innovations will come from ingenious solutions to high-end problems

I

nnovation for innovation’s sake rarely results in technology that becomes broadly adopted – this is especially true in the healthcare market. By contrast, innovation that addresses a specific unmet need usually results in technology that enjoys rapid and widespread uptake. Within healthcare, such uptake typically leads to improved patient outcomes, and can also lead to commercial success.

However, over the past 50 years healthcare spending has increased significantly as a percentage of GDP, and will continue to rise as the population ages. This has led to speculation that, despite the efforts of organisations such as NICE, the healthcare structure is already broken, and most stakeholders agree that we must find a way to reduce healthcare costs.

So, as with other areas of healthcare, the main challenge for diagnostics innovation is addressing new needs with growing cost constraints. However, the flipside of challenge is opportunity – and this is the lifeblood of product and technology development companies.

There are many examples of opportunities within the diagnostics space and we explore just two of them here.

The first opportunity is related to financial processes

within healthcare and, in essence, is the move from prescription-based reimbursement to an outcome-based reimbursement. For this to happen, the process requires devices that can measure or monitor the outcome (or result) of treatment. A positive outcome would then trigger reimbursement. Technology and product development companies such as The Technology Partnership (TTP) are developing simple, low-cost technologies that measure these disease markers to confirm the presence or severity of diseases.

This revolution in healthcare reimbursement should yield improved outcomes as well as reduced costs.

The second example of diagnostic innovation is in the field of personalised medicine. This happens when a patient’s healthcare is customised to match their exact needs. An example is the selective use of certain treatments for HER2 positive breast cancer which are otherwise ineffective in the HER2 negative disease.

Antibodies are used to detect the HER2 biomarkers to enable this selective use.

Antibodies are biological flags produced by the body in response to real or perceived foreign agents such as bacteria, and they can be manipulated to detect or even destroy cells such as cancer cells. But antibodies take a long time to develop and are expensive, so healthcare providers are looking at cheaper, more efficient methods.

This has created the opportunity for companies like TTP to develop biological compounds that act like antibodies but are based on protein alternatives.

For 2016 and beyond, there will certainly be huge challenges across the healthcare sector, which can only mean greater opportunities for product development companies to provide innovative solutions that help maintain a viable healthcare system. Within this context, the most valuable innovations will come from ingenious solutions to high-end problems.

Douglas Bradshaw (left) is medical practice head at The Technology Partnership medical@ttp.com www.ttp.com

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Inspector Dogberry DOCTORS MAY one day be able

Massachusetts General Hospital,

to monitor patients’ vital signs by

says: “Through characterisation

having them swallow an ingestible

of the acoustic wave, recorded

electronic device that measures

from different parts of the GI tract,

heart rate and breathing rate from

we found that we could measure

within the gastrointestinal tract,

both heart rate and respiratory

using technology invented at MIT.

rate with good accuracy.”

The Inspector, who very much

By Ciara Long, online reporter

The Health Care Blog http://thehealthcareblog.com/ blog/category/tech

Doctors currently measure

enjoys chasing after shiny objects,

vital signs such as heart and

has often wondered how his vital

respiratory rate using techniques

signs change during such exercise,

including electrocardiograms

and has wondered if monitoring

(ECG) and pulse oximetry, which

CARNEGIE MELLON University

prosthetics have motors that can

his heart rate would improve his

require contact with the patient’s

is developing a robotic prosthetic

adjust the angle of the knee and

performance.

skin. Such vital signs can also be

leg to help amputees recover

ankle during walking, allowing a

Apart from the Inspector,

measured with wearable monitors,

their balance when they trip using

more natural gait.

this type of sensor could make

but those are often uncomfortable

techniques which mimic human

it easier to assess trauma

to wear.

reflexes.

patients, monitor soldiers in battle,

These motors also generate

Hartmut Geyer, assistant

muscles, making it less physically tasking for an amputee to walk and

of patients with chronic illnesses,

University’s Robotics Institute,

enabling them to move as fast as

or improve training for professional

says: “Our work is motivated by

an able-bodied person.

and amateur athletes,

the idea that if we understand how

the researchers say.

humans control their limbs, we

over the next three years a study

can use those principles to control

will be funded through the National

robotic limbs.

breathing rates from

“Powered prostheses can

the distinctive sound

help compensate for missing

waves produced by

www.healthcareguy.com

force to compensate for missing

professor at Carnegie Mellon

The new sensor

Read by a daily audience of 5,000 healthcare industry observers, decision makers and healthcare pros, The Health Care Blog was called “the authority” by the New York Times. Written by a collection of informed bloggers, it covers almost everything tech-related in healthcare, from iPad use to protecting patient data.

The Healthcare IT Guy

perform long-term evaluation

calculates heart and

As part of a $9million initiative,

Science Foundation to test this technology.

This blog is run by digital medical device inventor Shahid Shah, who has 15 years of experience running IT systems within the healthcare industry, including the likes of the American Red Cross. Topics include digital patient privacy, UI design for medical software and the future of medical innovation.

leg muscles, but if amputees

the beating of the

are afraid of falling, they won’t

heart and the

use them. Today’s prosthetics

inhalation and

try to mimic natural leg motion,

exhalation of

yet they can’t respond like a

the lungs.

healthy human leg would to trips,

Giovanni Traverso, a research

stumbles and pushes.”

affiliate at MIT’s Koch Institute

11

Geyer has studied the dynamics

for Integrative Cancer Research

of leg walking and motor control

and a gastroenterologist at

for the past decade. Powered

LabGear (£2.29 – iOS)

Containing peer-reviewed content, this app has a comprehensive library of medical lab tests including blood, hormone, cardiovascular and immunology.

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Providing up-to-the-moment coverage of content tailored to reader interests, this will alert users to developments on the latest topics.

33 Charts http://33charts.com 33 Charts is written by Dr Bryan Vartabedian, an academic author, adviser and one of the healthcare industry’s most influential voices on medicine and technology. It has been highlighted by the US’s National Library of Medicine for its innovative approach to combining technology, social media and medicine.

Pensions Insight www.pensions-insight.co.uk/blogs Providing event coverage, research, opinions and analysis on all the latest pensions developments in the UK, Pensions Insight ensures a comprehensive understanding of the latest developments in the pensions world. The blog’s topics range from auto-enrolment to defined contributions and best methods for saving.

Fireman Patrick Hardison looks forward to life with his new face Continued from page 9 to build his strength and stamina, and speech and swallowing therapy to further restore and enhance his ability to speak correctly using his new lips, and to regain normal eating and swallowing abilities.

There will also be some revisional surgeries, including modifications to the eyelids and lips, and the removal of the tracheostomy and gastrostomy feeding tube that will occur as a final procedure, which Dr Rodriguez expects will be completed in a year.

However, he will need to remain on anti-rejection medication for the rest of his life to prevent his body

Hardison in 1999

rejecting the transplant. These advances in technology also give hope to ot her people w it h disfigurements previously thought to be untreatable. “It means, first and foremost, that these challenging deformities can now be treated in a precise manner,” says Dr Rodriguez. “ T he tec h nolog ies t hat were implemented to care for Hardison can also be used for other types of face transplants. With a well organised team these operations will continue to happen in a safe manner.

“We are taking on bigger challenges, and the results continue to improve – not only the quality of appearance, but the quality of the function of the

Hardison at home with his children during Thanksgiving last month

face, as we continue to learn a lot more.

We are beginning to appreciate that these problems that we thought were unsolvable are no longer categorised that way.”

Hardison life has been forever changed by the transplant. He no longer needs to wear a baseball cap and

sunglasses and he is beginning to return to something approaching a normal life. Advancements in technology have made this all possible, and as innovation continues, advances which surgeons once thought were impossible will be achieved, giving hope to many more patients.

The very best in customer service

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The 2015 Top 50 Companies for Customer Service rankings saw some old faces and plenty of new entrants

MET OFFICE The Met Office is the UK’s national weather ser vice, providing our customers with a quality 24/7 service offering scientific excellence in weather, climate and environmental information. We have a strong ethos of customer service, providing help to a diverse range of customers. We are committed to providing them with an outstanding customer experience through their channel of choice.

We are delighted to have been recognised for all our customer service channels by the Top 50, particularly as the leader in customer service across all channels, and most improved for use of social media. It is a fantastic achievement, especially against such tough competition.

Everyone in our team has a key role to play in helping our customers, from our IT support looking after the supercomputer and our web services, to our weather desk advisers providing forecasts to the public. We never lose sight of the fact that everything we do is for a customer who deserves a high-quality personalised service.

QVC UK Customer service is at the heart of everything we do at QVC. We work hard to empower our people with the skills they need to deliver a great customer experience. External recognition of their crucial role in the business ensures employees feel valued, while also building allimportant customer trust. The Top 50, with its multi-channel mystery shopping exercise, helps us with these aims, while providing valuable benchmarking against the best in the business across the UK.

MSL PROPERTY CARE SERVICES T he Top 50 prov ides a benchmark for our business against leading companies in the customer service industry and drives our staff to be the best, and we are – first in the Service Provider category.

MOO.COM MOO is an online print and design business that makes it simple for companies of all sizes to create beautiful, expertly crafted business stationery. MOO has served

more than a million businesses in more than 200 countries, supported by a team of 300 people across London and the US. Dan Moross, director of customer experience at MOO, says: “Seeing how MOO measures up against industry leaders has been hugely valuable for us, while earning recognition for the team’s hard work makes their effort and commitment all the more worthwhile.”

LA REDOUTE La Redoute has always prided itself on the service it provides. However, at the end of 2012 we set out on a journey to deliver the best service possible. We put the customer at the centre of everything we did, made it as easy to shop with La Redoute as possible, and moved our focus to “making customers happy”. Entering the Top 50 awards was the next step for us, and we are immensely proud of the result our overall business and customer services team have produced over the last year.

AVIVA PRIVATE MEDICAL INSURANCE MOLSON COORS TECHNICAL SERVICES Molson Coors is one of the world’s largest brewers, with a UK portfolio which includes Carling, the

UK’s best-selling lager, and Doom Bar, the UK’s best-selling ale. The company’s technical service desk is based in Burton, and handles 5,000 customer calls a week, diagnosing faults over the phone and booking engineer visits on behalf of the largest in-house brewery technical team in the industry. Given fantastic customer feedback and ambitious growth plans, the team were keen to benchmark themselves against the very best at service in the UK, so are first-time entrants in the awards.

RBS DIRECT BANK, PERSONAL AND BUSINESS BANKING Paul Webb, head of service for personal and business banking, says: “We have transformed our ser v ice in recent years and have improved our business performance. Customer advocacy via independent surveys has increased considerably and validates our internal view on improved service. We view testing by benchmarking organisations such as the Top 50 as a vital sense check, and are delighted to have won a second award as Best Extra-Large Centre, but even more pleased to have been awarded the Best in Banking award. The awards vindicate our strategy and customer service offering and are a credit to the fantastic people who help our customers 24/7 with their everyday needs.”

NATIONWIDE At Nationwide Building Societ y, we put our members at the heart of everything we do – and we mean that literally. As a mutual, we don’t have shareholders, so we can reinvest in the things that matter most to our members, and excellence in customer service is vital. We believe choice and getting a rapid response sits at the heart of good customer service. Whether our members use our branch network, Tweet or message us on Facebook, or deal with us over the phone, we’re committed to offering them the very best experience.

BAXI Baxi’s Genuine Parts customer contact centre is pleased to have been awarded tenth place in the Top Companies for Customer Service Awards for the second year running, and third place for its email service. As one of the largest parts distribution businesses in the UK, we have been supplying essential parts, accessories and consumables to the heating industry for more than 30 years and our consistent position in the Top 50 programme proves testament to our commitment to working in partnership with our customers to deliver the best possible service.

Business Reporter · December 2015 · 13

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Top 50: The very best in customer service 60K

BETSAFE.COM

60K has always strived for excellence and continuous improvement, and the Top 50 programme is one of our most reliable sources for drivers for change.

We strive to deliver the best customer experience in the industry. This achievement affirms that we are on the right track of reaching out.

AMICUSHORIZON Work i n g w it h t he Top 50 a nd ou r customers in co-designing, scrutinising and testing our service, we’ve been able to achieve savings and increase satisfaction.

ANGLIAN GROUP AVIVA AXA SWIFTCOVER Why did AXA join the Top 50? Because our customers know best! This targeted customer feedback is invaluable in our pledge to offer world-class customer service – we will listen and act.

BARBON INSURANCE GROUP BARCLAYCARD Barclaycard is committed to delivering excellent customer service. This programme is an opportunity to benchmark ourselves against financial services organisations and track our improvements.

KC CONTACT CENTRES (FOR NETWORK RAIL) L’OCCITANE EN PROVENCE

BRITISH GAS CENTER PARCS CHAUCER DIRECT THE CO-OPERATIVE BANK DEPARTMENT FOR WORK AND PENSIONS ESTEE LAUDER COMPANIES HEATHROW AIRPORT HISCOX ITV The ITV Viewer Services Team is thrilled to have been awarded the Best Customer Service award in the telecom and media section for a record-breaking fifth year in succession.

ABOUT THE TOP 50 PROGRAMME The Top 50 Companies for Customer Service is the UK’s only independent and industry-leading benchmarking programme, using real customers to mystery-shop companies with KPIs derived from their perspective.

The programme is now the first to provide a true multi-channel benchmark, where customers can see how brands perform across multiple channels, and brands can in turn improve their service based on real customer feedback.

Working with some of the best brands for customer service in the UK is a great privilege.

To know that they have achieved their spot in the Top 50 off the back of real customer interactions provides them with a prestigious badge of honour and a true kite mark of service excellence. If you believe your company should be a part of this programme, or would like to find out more, please visit www.callcentre.co.uk/top50.

Raj Dattani Programme director Top 50 Companies for Customer Service

We are extremely proud of being in the Top 50.

L’Occitane is dedicated to improving its service offering and bringing a little bit of Provence to our customers.

MEDICAL PROTECTION SOCIETY We aim to positively differentiate MPS from other service providers, through world-class service for our members. Participation provides independent validation of the service we offer.

MITIE GROUP PLC MOLSON COORS Molson Coors national contact centre in Cardiff handles one million calls annually from licensees, and climbed an impressive 12 places in the ranking this year.

NCFE NCFE is proud to be the only awarding organisation included in this year’s Top 50 Companies for Customer Service, which recognises colleagues’ commitment to continually improving our excellent customer service.

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Top 50: The very best in customer service

NOTONTHE HIGHSTREET.COM NS&I

THE CARAVAN CLUB Top 50 provides The Caravan Club w it h a n e f fe c t ive way of benchmarking service against other great brand names. The results help us drive continuous improvement activity.

The Top 50 helps NS&I benchmark the service we offer to our customers as well as providing suggestions on how customer service can be improved.

THE RIVERSIDE GROUP

ODEON & UCI CINEMAS

We are proud that being part of the Top 50 is recognition of the commitment of our team to provide excellent service to Riverside’s customers.

We’re proud to be a part of the Top 50, and independently measure and benchmark all our guest communication channels to help to continually improve.

VITALITY HEALTH We are passionate about providing great customer service and are proud to feature in the Top 50. It’s a valuable benchmark to build on as we strive to continually improve.

P&G At P&G the consumer is at the heart of everything we do. Top 50 membership is part of our ongoing commitment to providing the best possible service for our consumers.

PANASONIC SYSTEM COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY EUROPE POKER STARS PokerStars joined the Top 50 because it believes providing outstanding customer service is crucial to retaining its position as the first choice of poker players globally.

what we have learned through this programme will go on to inform our contact centre strategy to ensure we keep delivering the excellent customer service our guests have come to expect.

first-class service and investment to communities across Scotland.

SCREWFIX

RBS DIGITAL CUSTOMER SUPPORT

We are incredibly proud of our achievements in the Top 50, and our placing demonstrates our commitment to our customers and the service they receive.

Top 50 allows us to take real customer feedback on our webchat and social media service to drive continuous improvement on our performance.

SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT EUROPE

PREMIER INN

SCOTTISH WATER

This is the first year that Premier Inn has been part of the Top 50, and

Every day our people work to earn the trust of our customers, as we deliver a

TESCO TRANSPORT FOR LONDON WWF-UK (WORLD WILDLIFE FUND) WWF-UK joined Top 50 to help deliver our Achieving Excellence programme. It provides a valuable opportunity to learn and share best practice between leading organisations and be inspired to deliver customer service excellence.

We believe that PlayStation is the best place to play, and we joined the Top50 with the goal of delivering the best customer service for our players.

If you would like to find out more, please visit www.callcentre.co.uk/ top50

Personal messages from our customers really make our day

C

haucer Direct is celebrating for the second year running, after being cited by Top 50 Companies as a business that provides the “crème de la crème” in customer service. With a strong desire to deliver exceptional customer service at its core, the motor insurer achieved fantastic results at the prestigious ceremony, gaining first place for calls, second place for live chat and third place for social media. The awards, which recognise customer service excellence throughout the contact centre industry, identify the very best, highlighting businesses that truly go above and beyond in looking after their customers.

The Whitstable-based company, which provides motor insurance directly to customers, already has a host of awards under its belt, including five stars from Defaqto and a ServiceMark with Distinction – one of just two companies to receive this accolade in the UK. Chaucer Direct differentiates itself from other insurers by applying a

training to our staff or increasing our interaction with customers via live chat or social media. I’m so proud of our team and their achievements, which are a testament to their hard work.

Being recognised at the Top 50 Companies Awards is fantastic, but it really touches us when we receive personal messages like thank you cards from our customers – we’ve even had flowers on occasion! It’s little things like this that make our day.”

unique strategy to its business model – not only investing heavily in employees but ensuring customers have a voice and that feedback is acknowledged and listened to.

Paul Baxter, head of Direct at Chaucer Direct, commented: “The Chaucer Direct team has achieved a

fantastic result yet again, taking three top ten positions in its nominated categories. The commitment and engagement of the team is second to none, ensuring that we deliver world-class service for our customers every time.”

He added: “Our customers and

our employees are our business, and we always put them first.

By listening to their feedback and looking to adapt and improve our processes, we have evolved to a point where we can consistently guarantee excellence – whether that’s through offering extra

Chaucer Direct provides motor insurance directly to customers at www.chaucerdirect.co.uk and its staff are always happy to talk to customers on 01227 284848.

You can keep up to date on the latest motoring news, advice and tips on Chaucer Direct’s social media channels. Like Chaucer Direct on Facebook at Facebook/ chaucerdirect, follow on Twitter @chaucerdirect, or talk to the customer service team @chaucerhelp

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Top 50: The very best in customer service

A company’s vision must be driven by the aspirations of its customers

P

anasonic’s European customer service team was established in 2006 in Cardiff, where we house a European repair centre, field support team and multi-language call centre to cater for B2B customers. We quickly realised through listening and learning from our customers that B2B requirements are critical to effective operations and financial performance, and therefore Panasonic modelled the CS organisation with the sole vision of becoming the No1 company for customer satisfaction in the B2B market.

This is the first year we have participated in the Top 50 programme, so to be rated the country’s fourth best for email support and 17th for overall customer service reflects the hard work and dedication of the team towards achieving that goal.

Remarkably, in 1929, Panasonic founder Konosuke Matsushita created a series of business principles, which even today can

be found on walls within our offices and are included in our staff training and handbooks.

At the same time, he said: “A company’s vision must be driven by the aspirations of its customers.”

It is these words that drove our team to the realisation that the only way they can understand their

customers’ aspirations is to listen to them.

Every day, we endeavour to continually improve our customer service level with system and training enhancements, and we’re seeking to extend the remit of the team to cover a greater number of products and territories. In

We set our goal for this year to win – and we did!

I

n only the second year on the UK’s leading customer service benchmarking programme, MSL Property Care Services was awarded first place in the Service Provider Sector and third place overall across all sectors and media channels in the Top 50 Companies for Customer Service awards.

Jeremy Harrison, managing director, said: “To be number one against so many other larger and well known national brands is a fabulous achievement for everyone at MSL. We are competitive by nature and having come so close last year we set our goal for this year to win – and we did!

“We invest in our helpdesk team to ensure that they are knowledgeable of our customers’ businesses and maintenance issues to enable us to provide timely and effective solutions.”

MSL is a market leader in the provision of a wide range of planned and reactive property maintenance services throughout the UK, Ireland and parts of Europe. At the forefront of the MSL service is its 24/7/365 helpdesk, based in Halifax and supported by a robust web-based maintenance management system that provides customers with transparency of expenditure and performance.

MSL’s core market is the retail sector, including

customers such as William Hill, Caffè Nero, Age UK, Maplin Electronics and New Look – all of which demand a very responsive and professional service to ensure continuity of their business opening hours, the safety of their staff and customers, and the protection of their brands. MSL is now growing its reputation in the residential sector.

“We adapt our service as appropriate whether our customer is a high-street store or a householder,” concludes Harrison.

“The one thing that remains constant is that the customer always comes first and gets the best service we can deliver.”

Jeremy Harrison (left) is MD of MSL Property Care Services 07734 066379 msl-ltd.co.uk

addition, we’re turning our business round from one which operates entirely reactively to one which is proactive and predicts when maintenance and repair are required.

Panasonic is striving to provide added value to our customers’ operations. We are building bespoke managed service solutions and also machine-tomachine (M2M) services.

One such example is our new CARES scheme. Using the latest M2M technology, this enables the customer service centre to communicate directly with our products via 3G or 4G wherever they are installed. We can do status checks, performance monitoring and even predict any problematic issues that may occur.

This allows Panasonic to take preventative action before any problem has occurred at the customer side. Much of the time, the customer wouldn’t

even know anything is wrong.

To aid effective communication with our customers, Panasonic has built various methods for interaction. We have expanded the options from purely telephone and email to enhanced services where customers can manage all service interactions by telephone, email, website queries or even through a service application on their smartphone (iOS and Android).

At Panasonic, the number one aim is customer satisfaction.

This drives our employees in all daily jobs, no matter if this is manufacturing, design, sales or after-sales customer service. They are committed to ensuring we make our customers’ lives and experiences with Panasonic products and services as good as they possibly can be.

Donald Maidment (left) is head of customer service at Panasonic 020 7022 6530 business.panasonic. co.uk