Insights

Watford Fundraisers
Watford Fundraisers 1024 768 James Hallam

Our James Hallam Watford branch have been busy with fundraisers the past week.

They kicked off with a sponsored walk last Thursday, for Watford Sheltered Workshop. “It was a 2.5 mile walk around the town, with service users and volunteers of the Workshop.. ending in the pub!”

Next up was a team called ‘The Risk Factor’, which entered into The Big Charity Sports Event, in aid of the WFC Community Sports Trust and Herts Inclusive Theatre. Despite dismal weather conditions and some equally dismal physical conditions, they came a very solid 2nd place, winning the space hopper race and tug of war rounds.

The last up was the weekend’s Croxfest, which is a local community festival attended by over 8,000 people and where James Hallam were one of the many local sponsors. It’s been running for 5 years and aimed at giving upcoming and local bands a festival platform- it’s run by volunteers and as well as supporting local charities, profits are put back into making the event bigger and better the next year.

Hospitality and Leisure Newsletter
Hospitality and Leisure Newsletter 1920 1280 James Hallam

Insurers are becoming increasingly diligent when dealing with kitchen fire claims, particularly with regard to the scrutinising of extract duct cleaning reports.

The majority of insurers apply a policy condition stating that kitchen extract ducting should be deep cleaned at least every 6 months by a professional contractor (the industry standard for this type of work is known as TR19).

Read the newsletter here.

Be Aware- Electrical Installations
Be Aware- Electrical Installations 1920 1280 James Hallam

This month sees the publication of the 18th Edition IET Wiring Regulations. These regulations apply to the design, erection and verification of electrical installations; and additions and alterations to existing installations.

Also known as BS 7671:2018 Requirements for Electrical Installations, these changes were issued on 2nd July 2018 and will come into effect on 1st January 2019.

The period between publication and application gives a 6-month window for electrical contractors and others responsible for installing and maintaining electrical installations to become familiar with the new regulations.

Whilst there are many small changes from the previous 17th Edition, some of the significant updates in the new 18th Edition cover include:

  • Protection Against Electric Shock – changes to regulations relating to protective equipotential bonding and those relating to disconnection times.
  • Protection Against Thermal Effects – of particular relevance to fire, a new regulation has been introduced recommending the installation of arc fault detection devices (AFDDs) to mitigate the risk of fire in final circuits of a fixed installation due to the effects of arc fault currents.
  • Protection Against Voltage Disturbances – stipulating that transient over-voltage protection has to be installed when (amongst others) the consequences caused by over-voltage results in interruption of commercial or industrial activity.
  • Inspection and Testing – this has been revised to align Inspection and Testing requirements to other revisions within the 18th Edition.
  • Energy Efficiency – recommendations for the design and erection of electrical installations with local production and storage of energy to optimise the use of electricity. These are listed in a new appendix.

This doesn’t mean that existing electrical installations installed in accordance with earlier editions of the wiring regulations are now unsafe or require upgrading, but any new installations, alteration or additions made from 1st January 2019 onwards will need to comply with the new regulations.

It is always recommended to hire contractors who are members of a trade body such as NICEIC when choosing an electrical contractor to inspect and test electrical installations within your premises. Many commercial insurance contracts contain a fixed wiring electrical inspection condition and generally stipulate use of an NICIEC contractor.

Allianz report reveals top fears for SMEs
Allianz report reveals top fears for SMEs 1920 1280 James Hallam

Brexit, theft and data breaches are all concerns facing SMEs, but what do they fear the most?

An independent study, which was commissioned by Allianz Insurance, has revealed what SMEs fear the most.

Conducted by market research company OnePoll and released today, ’Supporting SMEs to Prosper,’ an independent survey of 500 SME business leaders found that data breaches were top of their list of fears.

Click here to read the rest of the article by Insurance Times

Seventeen Group Announces Specialist Broker Acquisition in Kent
Seventeen Group Announces Specialist Broker Acquisition in Kent 1920 1280 James Hallam

Seventeen Group has announced that it has acquired Everard Insurance Brokers Limited (‘Everards’) on the 2nd July for an undisclosed sum.

Everards are based in West Malling Kent and was established in 1969. It is a specialist marine and marine trades broker as well as handling general clients. Everards controls gross written premium of £10 million.

The vendors Stephen Roper and Tim Gilbert plus all staff will be remaining with the business which will continue to operate out of the existing West Malling premises and operate as a specialist division within Seventeen Group’s broking subsidiary James Hallam Limited.

Stephen Roper, MD of Everards comments “We thought long and hard about the type of broker we would want our staff and clients to join and James Hallam within Seventeen Group felt like the right choice from the outset”. Fellow Everards Director Tim Gilbert adds “Having developed the business and its reputation over many years we are keen to see these foundations built upon. We can add enormously to James Hallam in terms of our specialist knowledge and will likewise gain from being part of a specialist dynamic Group”.
Seventeen Group is a privately owned insurance Group which includes James Hallam insurance brokers, Touchstone Underwriting and 4Sight Risk Management.

Paul Anscombe, Chief Executive Officer of Seventeen Group comments “The acquisition of Everards is consistent with our strategy of growing and creating specialist lines of business. The team in West Malling are hugely knowledgeable in their field and are ambitious to grow the business. Everards have excellent relationships with their key insurers which we are keen to maintain and to expand the product range”.

Anscombe further adds “We were supported in this transaction by Paul Hambrook and the Clydesdale Bank insurance team and we will seek to work with Clydesdale on future opportunities going forwards. We are also grateful to Gary Medcraff of Darwin Smith for introducing Everards to us. Successful acquisitions require experienced business partners and there is no doubt that both Clydesdale bank and Darwin Smith were instrumental in helping both parties achieve our desired outcomes”.

Be aware
Be aware 1920 1280 James Hallam

Insurers are becoming increasingly diligent when dealing with kitchen fire claims, particularly with regard to the scrutinising of extract duct cleaning reports.

The majority of insurers apply a policy condition stating that kitchen extract ducting should be deep cleaned at least every 6 months by a professional contractor (the industry standard for this type of work is known as TR19).

Key items to check when engaging a contractor;

  • Ensure the contractor complies with the TR19 industry standard
  • Obtain evidence that the contractor has valid ‘Public Liability’ insurance in place with a minimum £5,000,000 Limit of Liability
  • Ensure that the contractor provides a schematic of the duct system in their report, which should detail the complete run, including the canopy
  • Ask the contractor to provide before and after measurements of grease build-up in their report
  • Ask the contractor to provide before and after photos in their report
  • Ask the contractor to confirm in writing in their report that 100% of the ducting has been cleaned and passed clean
  • Ensure that the contractor is instructed to provide recommendations in their report

Finding the Key to Schemes Innovation. Graham Whyatt discusses with Insurance Times
Finding the Key to Schemes Innovation. Graham Whyatt discusses with Insurance Times 1920 1280 James Hallam

Graham Whyatt, our group head of affinity & SME here at James Hallam, recently talked with Insurance times, concerning ‘Finding the key to schemes innovation’. He was one of six scheme specialists looking at the core requirements.

Click here to read the full story

Cyber Security and Fraud in Travel
Cyber Security and Fraud in Travel 1920 1280 James Hallam

James Hallam to support ABTA’s Cyber Security and Fraud in Travel Seminar – Key James Hallam partners and clients receive a discount to attend

Andy Bugby (Lead Underwriter – Financial Risks, RSA) will be speaking at ABTA’s Cyber Security and Fraud in Travel seminar on behalf of James Hallam Travel and Tour and Touchstone Underwriting Limited, which will take place on 20 June 2018.

Click here to find out more

Bank Of England Networking Breakfast
Bank Of England Networking Breakfast 1920 1280 James Hallam

ames Hallam Watford Branch were proud to sponsor the Bank of England Networking Breakfast at Moor Park Mansion on 15th May 2018. 　

Alex Golledge from the Bank of England addressed a group of about 50 business owners and financial professionals. Alex gave an insight into the Bank’s current thinking, its approach to setting interest rates and some of the factors that have influenced recent decisions to leave this unchanged. He also provided some historical economic analysis and broad predictions for the UK economy. Anecdotally, it was interesting to see his graph with the base rate fluctuation over the last 350 years, as it didn’t move from 4% for about 200 of these! 　

It was a really well attended and enjoyable event, in very impressive surroundings, organised by the Watford Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber also used the event to introduce their new CEO, Chris Luff, who we are looking forward to working closely with in the future.

The Hospitality Industry’s Pantomime
The Hospitality Industry’s Pantomime 1200 900 James Hallam

It was a proud moment for the James Hallam team on Wednesday evening, as they hit the West End and attended the Hospitality industry’s pantomime ‘Aladdin’; raising money for the Springboard charity. Many of the London team attended the performance to show their support for the cast and charity.  To their surprise,  James Hallam Hospitality and Leisure even made an appearance in the panto…

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