Born-again company

According to Ian Muress, Crawford and Company's chief executive officer for the UK and Ireland, the business has gone through something of a rebirth: "I was talking to a client the other day and was heartened to hear him talk about 'the renaissance of Crawford and Company'. It was a real affirmation of what we are doing and proof that we must be going in the right direction."

The latest sign of this renaissance - which he has overseen in his two and a half years at the company - is the winning of Axa's subsidence loss adjusting account at the beginning of the month.

"Crawford has gone to great lengths to create the right tools for the industry, which facilitate customer service while enabling a reduction in the longevity and total cost of claims," he comments.

New contracts

Crawford has won several major contracts recently. During the past 16 months, other business has been secured from Axa, as well as accounts from Norwich Union and Zurich.

And, although managing director of general insurance Benedict Burke speaks about the increasing amount of work that needs to be done with tenders, he notes: "I don't like losing. I have done enough of that in the past, and it's not nice."

As for the key factors behind the wins, Mr Burke adds it is a result of getting its sales and operations teams to work more closely, where there was "disconnect" before.

Mr Muress joined Crawford from McLarens Toplis where, as group chief executive, he oversaw the sale to Capita. "When I came to Crawford I was charged with changing the business and management to get more out of the company.

"One of the first things I did was look at the senior people we had and what changes were needed. This included bringing people in from outside the group but also identifying people within the company to give them the chance to shine."

Mr Burke was one of those brought in, having joined from GAB Robins in the summer of 2003, and he agrees that together he and Mr Muress have uncovered "some significant finds beneath the existing management that we have been able to liberate".

It is not only the staff that the company has sought to elevate but whole divisions. "When I joined Crawford I took a particular interest in our subsidence proposition, which was one of the best in the market," says Mr Burke. "What it perhaps failed to do was tell the market how good it was - it needed to be more proactive and promote itself better." He believes the Axa victory is testimony to how far it has come.

Regulatory approval

After much debate last year about whether loss adjusters needed to be regulated by the Financial Services Authority as a result of the Insurance Mediation Directive, which saw much lobbying by the European Federation of Loss Adjusting Experts (Fuedi), it was decided that they did not.

Despite this, Crawford has taken the decision to become authorised to assist in "the administration and performance of a contract of insurance".

Mr Muress says: "When I took over in 2002 increased regulation across our industry was apparent and for me would become a way of life. Then and now I can see that this will inevitably include the sharp end of insurance; ie the claims arena. Crawford are a NYSE public corporation so we operate in a transparent environment under US corporate governance rules such as Sarbanes-Oxley. I strongly believe that this genuinely gives us real competitive edge from an unrivalled ability to take UK regulation in our stride."

One of the key reasons Crawford sought to be regulated was the aim of seeking more broker business. "Within our Global Risks Administration business we have created a division dedicated to the 'broker claims' environment.

We assessed that we needed to be regulated by the FSA and became accredited in 2004," explains Mr Burke.

Indeed, he sees this as a growing business sector: "With brokers, the question is whether they see claims management as core to their business development and growth. I would suspect that many would not, so we see this as an area where we can offer them our expertise. Claims management is our core business."

The company is looking to expand its third-party administration business, which provides claims services for self-insured and multinational corporates.

Mr Burke points to the fact that it is about to add 5000 square feet of office space to its operations in Milton Keynes as "evidence that business is growing".

The right tools

Mr Muress stresses that Crawford has looked to embrace two things under his tenure, "adding value and improving customer service", something technology has helped it achieve.

"What we have now is the technology others are still planning," he adds.

"When we show people what we can do they are genuinely blown away. I can safely say that what we have in the shape of technology is outstanding."

Mr Muress says the current environment is one where factors such as technology, rather than price, are held to be more important by prospective clients.

"Companies are now much more sophisticated buyers of third-party services," he says. "We've passed through a period in the past where price was the principal driver, but that is not the case anymore and clients increasingly focus on our technical ability."

Asked about the fact that ultimately both he and Mr Muress are answerable to Crawford's US parent, Mr Burke - who is no stranger to having transatlantic bosses following his time at GAB - enthusiastically talks about the support the UK is being given.

He says: "I have taken something like 20 major projects before the US board and it has challenged us over why we are doing this work because ultimately it has shareholders to answer to. It has also been supportive and I believe the entrepreneurial spirit here is good."

This spirit appears to be permeating every area of the company at present.

Mr Muress notes that when he joined Crawford it did a survey of the staff to see what their attitudes were towards the business and the management.

"We repeated the exercise six months ago and the results showed a significant improvement compared to responses two years ago. The feedback indicates there is a lot more respect and belief in what we are doing now."

He adds: "We are seeking to be the employer of choice and it heartens me that we discover so many claims professionals who want to join the company. So I honestly believe we have achieved that."

Mr Muress concludes: "Our focus on quality supports our strategy to be the very best in the industry and our success in the UK suggests that we are making great progress. As always, there's a great deal to be done but all in all I couldn't be more pleased with the way we operate as a management team and the business has never been in better shape."