business focus How can
‘If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs’ Rudyard Kipling
With the uncertainties created by Brexit, it’s a good time for board and senior management to reflect on their business strategies, writes Jeff Callander, programme director of The Strategy Programme
Making agility a part of their strategy will contribute to identifying, and
successfully meeting, new opportunities while minimising the threats of market upheaval. Agility is the latest buzzword in business and is a quality that we can easily appreciate. Perhaps this is because of its links to sport where it is a visible capability unlike, for example, sustainability, which is more intangible.
In sport, agility is the ability to change the body’s position efficiently, and requires a combination of balance, coordination, speed, reflexes, strength, and endurance (Wikipedia). In business, agility is used to describe an organisation’s capability to add, subtract, change and coordinate resources to adapt quickly to changing markets and take advantage of new opportunities.
Agility also indicates that a business can meet market needs as it evolves while protecting itself from unforeseen events. However, the term agility is rarely used inside businesses, let alone a part of business strategies, whereas the term sustainability is visible all the time. Perhaps this is because in order to make a company agile it often takes time to execute and even more time to see fruitful results and therefore doesn’t meet a company’s short-term performance pressures.
However, developing a strategy to make and maintain a business’ agility is essential in the “new normal” of the market and in the confusion business leaders can often miss
The Insurance Act affect you?
For the first time in over a century the UK insurance law has been overhauled to bring it up to date with the evolving business landscape and insurance industry requirements
leveraging the fundamentals of their organisation.
I was reminded of this by IKEA’s clever ‘bookbook’ advert (2014) promoting their catalogue. It highlights that there is often overlooked value in what we do, or what we could do with just a few improvements. This could make all the difference to our customers, staff and other stakeholders and might mean the difference between retaining or losing a business opportunity. Businesses need the agility to be able meet market changes – for example, to take advantage of the low exchange rate, to use the opportunity to look for non- euro business, to change the approach to developing talent or to create a more stable financial position for the company. Every company should take this opportunity to refresh its business strategy.
A simple test of whether your business is agile: to what extent, when something like Brexit happens, is your current organisation able to redirect and reallocate its resources to take advantage of the new market situation?
Diana Richards 01491 418767
exec@henley.ac.uk henley.ac.uk/strategy
Follow us on twitter: @HenleyExecEd
The main aim of The Act is to put businesses in a better position than under the existing law, by helping to clarify the information required to be disclosed when taking out new and renewing insurance. You will also find that insurer’s remedies for issues such as non- disclosure, misrepresentation and breach of warranty will also be fairer.
So in practice how can this new Act affect you…
A scenario
A property owner with a rented commercial property was covered by a policy that included a warranty that there was a working and maintained burglar alarm on the premises. They failed to do this. A passing lorry crashed and caused damage to the front of their building.
Pre-Insurance Act treatment
Before the Insurance Act, the insurer may have refused to cover their losses for failure to adhere to the warranty in their policy.
Post-Insurance Act treatment
With The Act in force, a broker would be able to make the argument that failure to comply with the warranty to maintain a burglar alarm on the property could in no way have increased the risk of the property being hit by a truck and that any claim should be paid.
Things to remember It is important to read,
understand and comply with the terms of your cover. If this claim were for a theft, the insurer’s decision to refuse payment may have been valid. It is also
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – SEPTEMBER 2016
important to understand your new rights under the Act and the obligations you need to meet in order to benefit from them:
• Fair presentation - you must disclose all material circumstances that may influence an insurer’s assessment of your risk.
• Reasonable search - you are expected to search your business and any external parties who may hold information about your business, for information regarding the risk insured.
• Insurance team – the disclosure obligations in the Act also require the knowledge of senior management and those who are responsible for arranging the insurance to be disclosed to insurers ... including your broker.
For more information or to discuss how the Act will affect your business, see details below.
jelfgroup.com/insuranceact
Simon Corderoy 07980 894917
Adam Jeffs 07748 647673
Jelf, Jelf Clarke Roxburgh, Jelf Lampier, Jelf Manson, Jelf Professions, Jelf Insurance Partnership, Jelf Insurance Brokers (incorporating Libra Insurance Services) and Jelf Small Business are trading names of Jelf Insurance Brokers Ltd (Reg No. 0837227), which is part Jelf Group plc (Reg No. 2975376) and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Registered address: Hillside Court, Bowling Hill, Chipping Sodbury, Bristol BS37 6JX (Registered in England and Wales). Not all products and services offered are regulated by the FCA. JIB189.07.16
businessmag.co.uk
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