FEATURE: PROFESSIONAL SERVICES Support for our rural communities


Peter Beaumont (pictured), Managing Director for Cornish Mutual, explains how the South West rural insurer has supported its farm and business Members through the Covid-19 crisis.


while supporting our colleagues, suppliers and communities. As we continue to adapt to a developing situation, we are also looking to the future and planning for life post-lockdown.


T


Maintaining our service levels Unlike many businesses, we have not furloughed any of our employees. The whole team has been available to offer


the full range of services that our farm and rural business Members are accustomed to. While they have not been able to undertake their usual face-to-face meetings, our field-based teams across Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset have been contactable as usual. Recognising that some members have needed additional support, we have prioritised those in vulnerable circumstances. We have also enhanced the coverage of some


of our policies, including extending the period for which a property can be unoccupied, subject to our Members taking certain simple precautions. We are passionate about supporting the


communities in which we work and live and have


hroughout the coronavirus pandemic, our ongoing priority has been to look after the farms and rural businesses we insure,


a long tradition of getting involved with fundraising, charity events and volunteering. During the pandemic, we have been helping in all sorts of ways, from encouraging our employees to volunteer in their local area to donating our daily fruit delivery to hospital staff. It has been wonderful to see our colleagues helping out in their communities.


Looking to the future While we are dealing with the


developing situation, we are also focusing on the future. Many of our members have adapted to the crisis by diversifying their farms and rural businesses, setting up deliveries and online sales, for example, to sell their produce. At Cornish Mutual, we are


‘It has been


wonderful to see our colleagues


helping out in their communities’


looking at how some of the adaptations we have made could help us develop our services in the future. Like many businesses, we have embraced homeworking and new technology and are considering how this experience could shape the way we work after the lockdown.


Summer 2020 Chamber Profile 23


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