Restoration company wins 'outstanding practice' award

Citation

(2000), "Restoration company wins 'outstanding practice' award", Facilities, Vol. 18 No. 7/8. https://doi.org/10.1108/f.2000.06918gaf.001

Restoration company wins 'outstanding practice' award

Restoration company wins "outstanding practice" award

Keywords: Disaster recovery, Awards, Training, Workplace learning

Hot on the heels of becoming the first company of its kind to secure the prestigious Investors in People accreditation this summer, Disaster Restoration Limited, the only network entirely devoted to providing fire and flood restoration services, has been singled out for a top Iip accolade. It has won the Outstanding Practice category in the annual Investor in People Champions award run by Essex Training & Enterprise Council. The trophy was presented to Brian Armstrong, managing director of DRL, at a special ceremony by another champion, the former British Olympic athlete, Kriss Akabusi, MBE,

DRL, based at Basildon, was one of the smallest companies in competition for the Champions award, which is open to any organisation achieving Investors in People - a national standard which recognises commitment by companies to improving business performance through the training of staff in the workplace.

"To say we were surprised to win the award is an understatement", commented Brian. "Against us were government bodies and some really blue chip organisations, and it was a daunting prospect to see us set alongside these. However, training has always been one of this company's key issues since its formation eight years ago, so Investors in People has been very close to all our hearts over the past 18 months or so since we began to tackle the IiP programme in earnest.

"It's always very nice to win an award such as this because you know an independent body has recognised all the effort which has been exerted by so many people within the company. In fact, it gave us an extra thrill to be told by Essex TEC that we were the fastest company ever to achieve the Investors in People accreditation through them."

DRL started out on the Investors in People programme in the absence of any other nationally-recognised industry standard for fire and flood restoration services, after Brian Armstrong became convinced that aiming for accreditation was the best possible way of conveying to the company's customers the high standards which existed within the company, particularly as many of those customers, which include the insurance industry, water authorities, premises and facilities managers, and housing managers in both local authorities and the private sector, are already familiar with the scheme.

IiP, a "powerful recommendation" for insurance market

His instinct has proved right. "We find that being an Investor in People company is a powerful recommendation in the insurance market; it helps demonstrate to our insurance industry customers that our company is built on training," observed Brian. "And having put training systems and methods into place for our own network of technicians and control centre staff, we are now providing awareness training seminars for all the major helplines, several loss-adjusting companies and a number of major insurance companies."

But Brian is not without a word of criticism for his own industry. "What I find particularly deplorable is that according to figures recently released by the cleaning and support service industry's National Training Organisation, there are only about 100 companies within the industry going forward for Investors in People accreditation," observed Brian. "I think it's a great shame that those who work within a service industry like that of flood and fire restoration cannot do better than this."

Meanwhile, DRL continues to expand its own operation. Its 24 hours a day, 365 days a week service enables its nationwide network of technicians to respond immediately to disasters of any kind anywhere in the country and undertake an emergency damage limitation programme which will minimise disruption and get homes, offices, shops and other premises back into action as soon as possible. The DRL teams are available to deal with every type of fire or flood emergency ranging from a simple kitchen chip-pan fire to a fire which destroys an entire building, from regional flooding which affects countless homes and businesses to a radiator leak which leaves an unsightly patch on the carpet. DRL have recently issued their contracted insurance company clients with a guarantee that they will be on site within two hours of a job being notified.

For further information, please contact: Mrs Jay Grenby, DRL Press Officer, 45 Seymour Road, St Albans, Herts AL3 5HN. Tel/Fax: +44 (0) 1727 862101.