Simply Business

In the age of remote working it's important to find moments to come together in person. Last week, colleagues from Simply Business UK along with those working remotely in the US flew into our new hub in Boston for three days of workshops, collaboration and team bonding. A highlight was when Samantha Roady and I held an 'Ask Me Anything' session. Our team was inquisitive and asked some thought-provoking questions; here are my takeaways: 1. We're seeing promising results with AI, particularly in enhancing customer journeys and driving change with our advanced platform. Now it's about how we build on this. 2. While there's economic uncertainty, I'm optimistic about our resilience and ability to adapt. We're focused on serving our core segments and being agile. 3. We're committed to investing in our people and building a strong foundation for future success. 4. Innovation is key! We're streamlining our processes to make time for new ideas, evidenced in our upcoming hackathon. We're on a mission to optimize, and after encouraging everyone to read Eliyahu M. Goldratt's 'The Goal', I was pleased a member of the team asked me why I think it's an important read for anyone working in tech. It's about streamlining our workflows – from product development to engineering execution and delivery – to maximize our impact on both the bottom line and the customer experience. We're all about being efficient and effective in everything we do, and that's how we'll continue to excel. (I was also asked about my favourite karaoke song but that's not for public consumption) We've got a great team that's putting out many first in industry technologies! I'm looking forward to the progress we'll make in Q2 and beyond! #Teamwork #Innovation #Leadership #AI #artificialintelligence 

We’re thrilled to announce our new partnership with London Underwriters, a national wholesale insurance brokerage. This collaboration empowers agents with access to our dynamic digital suite of small business insurance products, to provide their customers with a range of coverage options, and bind coverage instantly. This expedited experience gives agents the tools they need to secure the right protection for their clients at the right price, enhancing commercial insurance options for small businesses. Learn more at the link in first comment.

The conversation around AI continues to heat up and it's clearly transforming industries. We're committed to being at the forefront of that transformation in the insurance sector. More to come!

Meet the winner of our annual Business Boost competition: Comfa! Comfa are a sensory-friendly clothing company designed to help neurodivergent children regulate in overstimulating environments. At 11 years old, Max is our youngest Business Boost winner yet. His passion and enthusiasm for what he does is infectious, with Max saying: “We’ve made something that will help me and I hope it will help other people too.” Max and his dad Matt’s hard work and originality impressed each of our judges, with Harpreet Kaur revealing: “I've never seen someone his age so entrepreneurial. I hope it inspires the next generation of entrepreneurs.” Max and Matt will be using the £25k grant to expand the Fidget-T product line to include school uniforms and adult sizes. A huge congratulations to Comfa – we can’t wait to see what you do next. Read more about their story and Business Boost here: https://bit.ly/3VSnjP1

This week we held our first ever Shared Services Conference – an opportunity for Simply Business colleagues to share knowledge, expertise, and learnings. Shared Services is a unified global team that plays a crucial role in driving and scaling Simply Business through innovation, underpinned by our technology and data. The team helps us to deliver our goal of providing the most straightforward and personalised way for small businesses and landlords across the UK and the US to buy insurance online. The theme of the conference was AI and fuelling our next stage of growth. We welcomed eight internal and external speakers across key functions such as customer experience, engineering, and product. Thank you Chan Ford, Sam Chelton, Toby Lewis, Daniel Aniszkiewicz, Beth Foy, Àgata Lapedriza, Shelbee Eigenbrode and Phillip Bohnenkamp for taking the time to share your expertise with us. Learning and pioneering are two of our core values, and we know we're at our best when we come together. It’s been a brilliant week, seeing how we can use the power of technology and our talented people to help our customers. We’re already looking forward to next year’s conference!

The Simply Business Summer of Giving has come to an end – with some of our amazing SBers spending over 850 hours giving back to their communities. This summer, we encouraged our team to take a day away from their day jobs and volunteer in their local community. Volunteering has many benefits — it’s a great way to connect with the local community, build positive relationships with colleagues, feel a sense of purpose, and most importantly, help out a good cause. Making a positive social impact is a core value for us at Simply Business and we’re proud of every SBer who gave back this summer. They supported the valuable work of 18 different organisations ranging from our charity partners, The King's Trust and Sky's the Limit, to local food and animal shelters. Our Head of Social Impact, Natalie Rathner, summed up our thoughts on the Summer of Giving: "We’re so proud we can offer SBers the chance to take some paid time off to volunteer and make a real impact in their communities, all while connecting with each other in the process". Watch the video to hear what our Summer of Giving meant to the people who took part.

Earlier this month we celebrated the outstanding achievements of our employees at the 6th annual Simply Business Awards – from groundbreaking innovations to exceptional customer service. Recognising and rewarding success is a huge part of Simply Business and we strive to make sure every SBer feels inspired to go above and beyond for our customers. The Atlantic isn’t big enough to stop us getting together. Our award winners were announced over Zoom in a single ceremony, followed by two parties full of good food and even better company – one held in London and the other in Boston. Congratulations to all our amazing winners and nominees – we’re inspired by you every day. And a big thank you to the incredible team who organised the event. We can’t wait to do it all again next year. 

We're looking forward to joining our partners and friends in NYC for the Global InsurTech Summit with FinTech Global today. Our very own Scott Aiello is participating in a panel discussion on Automating and Improving Pain Points in the Customer Experience Journey, alongside Roi H. from Zurich Resilience Solutions and Adam Van Loon from Plymouth Rock. We believe that the consumer journey in insurance is often complex and frustrating and that it shouldn't be. That's why we've invested heavily in developing a user-friendly platform that simplifies the process. We hope to connect with you at the summit! #GINSUS24 #insurtech #smallbusiness #businessinsurance

We’ve always believed that happy, fulfilled people deliver the best outcomes for our customers. We’re proud to go above and beyond to deliver a great experience to over one million customers in the US and the UK, and we know that requires a lot of hard work, from a lot of people. That’s why on Friday, 23 August, we’ll be giving all of our 1,000 plus global team the day off work – dedicated time to switch-off, enjoy some rest, and focus on their wellbeing. Our dedicated claims lines in the US and UK will remain open as usual for customers in need.