We had an article published in the IOL‘s Summer edition of Horizons about accident prevention and claims defensibility we thought you’d like to see it.
Horizons-Accident-Prevention-Article-July-19Other articles on our website that look at this area to check out
https://www.activitiesindustrymutual.co.uk/aim-pharos-be-prepared/
It continues to be a very busy season for AIM with many of you renewing at this time. I hope that all your businesses and activities are continuing very well, despite more inclement weather than we experienced last summer. Exams are over (as a mother of a GCSE student this year, I am breathing a sigh of relief!) and the summer stretches out ahead of us, with residential visits and summer camps. As Members you provide a tremendous array of activities! I have been lucky to try some of these for the first time recently, more below.
We had a wonderful Member event held at Lord’s Cricket Ground in March, followed by the AIM AGM and it was great to see so many of you there. I hope that you found the day worthwhile. Thank you to everyone who has provided feedback. This really helps us to plan our AIM events. If you have any suggestions for future member events, please let us know we are always interested in your suggestions for locations and speakers.
I am very much enjoying my visits to see as many of you as possible, covering lots of different areas of the UK. My recent visits have included trying caving in the Mendip Hills at Mendip Outdoors which was great fun; visiting Scotland to see the Actual Reality Trust at Ardentinny, via a lovely ferry across to Dunoon, and then on to Ardmay at the top of Loch Long, both of which had stunning sites and beautiful scenery; and meeting up with Xplore and Klub Group in Stowmarket and seeing their beautiful woodland bush craft areas. I was sorely tempted to don a wetsuit and swim in the lake at Waterland Gear (next time!) and I had a super walk around the historic house and site at Sealyham in Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire. I also had my first attempt at stand up paddle boarding with SUP Bristol, managing not only not to fall in, but successfully stand up paddling along the river in Bristol. Thank you all for making me feel so very welcome at these visits and for your time in showing me round.
James and I attended the Association of British Climbing Walls (ABC) two day conference in Sheffield at the end of June and met many of our current Members and hopefully some new ones too! So many of our enquiries come from recommendations- thank you for those. The conference was very well attended and a great event.
I’m off to the North West at the end of July then Wales and Scotland in October. We have a Member event in Okehampton on the 7th October – details to follow but please let Cathy know if you would like to attend on [email protected].
As always, the team is here to help you with queries and any issues. Please do get in touch if we can help you at all. I’d be delighted to come and say hello so do let me know if you would like me to come and see you as well.
Our supporting insurer MS Amlin came to our Member Day at Lord’s in March. Mandy Maris their Risk Engineer went through a presentation on some top tips regarding managing risk within the activities and leisure industry.
Most members will not be familiar with how MS Amlin supports the mutual so this was a great opportunity to explain our relationship. The benefits of effective good risk management theory and the relationship between accident investigation and claims.
Details of the presentation are included here for recap. For members who weren’t able to attend the member day this is a fraction of the content from the day but hopefully gives you some insight into what is on offer at our events. We really hope to see some of you at our next member days. Look out for invitations which will appear in your inboxes or on social media.
You can read all about the last AIM member events here:-
https://www.activitiesindustrymutual.co.uk/events/lords-cricket-ground-2019/
AIM-Members-Conference-Presentation-client-pack-21032019
Our colleagues at Clyde & Co have put together a round up of recent personal injury cases affecting the activities industry. This article demonstrates that recent case law is positive for the activities industry but that businesses can always protect themselves further.
Thrills-and-unfortunate-spills-
What a busy year it has been! My first 12 months as Mutual Manager at AIM have flown by. It has been an exciting time for me in this new role, full of variety and one I have thoroughly relished. As we start another new year, reviewing 2018 and looking forwards to 2019, I thought it would be a good time to review with you my last 12 months and what we at AIM are looking to achieve in the next 12 months, and beyond.
Visits!
This has been an integral and exciting part of the Manager’s role. I have very much enjoyed my travels and meeting as many of you, the Members, as possible. Visits have taken me as far south as Southampton and Poole, west to Somerset and Devon, east to Norfolk and north to Inverness via Cheshire, Derbyshire, Yorkshire and Cumbria! I have always been so warmly welcomed- thank you. It has been really interesting for me seeing your sites and activities, discussing your businesses with you and assisting in risk management and answering queries. I will try and see you in 2019 if I have not managed to meet you in 2018.
Activities
2018 has been a year for seeing new places, trying new activities and learning new skills. I have managed to take my running kit with me on my travels and have enjoyed different routes, running along the south coast, in various towns and villages, in the Cumbrian fells and the Scottish hills. I learned to climb with ropes on an indoor wall, something I had wanted to try for a while, having successfully defended climbing claims for AIM. Thank you to The Castle for their hospitality! I also loved assisting Firetrail with their Illuminator 25km night run in October at the Glen Tanar Estate, acting as a marshall throughout the night and helping with the clear up the following day. I am still to have a go at axe throwing so if any Members want to demonstrate this to me in 2019, I am a willing contestant!
Claims and defensibility
Protecting your brand and reputation is key. Accidents do occur but with good risk management and documentation, the opportunities for a successful defence are increased. We have achieved some great successes in 2018, successfully defending claims which ensure both the integrity of the sector and also act as a deterrent to spurious claims. I am more than happy to assist you if you have any risk management issues or want to discuss risk assessments and best practice.
Industry matters
It is very important to us at AIM that we listen to your issues and provide you with a voice in the industry, representing your interests at various levels. This has included being involved in the discussions concerning the new AALA scheme and how this might look in the future. I have also attended various sector events and conferences, making new contacts and joining several new Members. The main purpose has been ensuring that we keep abreast of issues affecting the industry and those affecting our Members.
We held our main Member event and AGM in March last year at Plas Y Brenin and a smaller localised event at Glenmore Lodge in Aviemore in October. Both were well attended and I really enjoyed meeting Members and discussing hot topics on both occasions. Our next exciting event takes place on the 21st March at Lord’s cricket ground with a variety of speakers, networking opportunities and followed by the AGM. Do attend if you are able to – it would be great to see you there! Details can be found here http://snip.ly/41ddt5
What’s next?
Well, the plan is to grow the Mutual whilst protecting your interests and keeping the very special mutual ethos, unique to AIM. This is achieved through contact with you all, as well as regular liaison with your hard working Board of Directors. We have spent time in 2018 discussing the future for AIM and debating a clear strategy for the next few years. We always welcome feedback and Member involvement through the Membership Committee and if you are interested in getting involved, please let us know.
I am looking forward to the next 12 months and beyond, and wish you all a very successful and prosperous 2019.
Sophia
Bringing the outdoors and snowsports together to achieve growth
Mendip started life as a mobile outdoor activity company serving school groups when it was founded by Jim Hayward in 1987. Fast forward 30 years and it has grown into a profitable year-round business that incorporates a snowsports operation alongside an expanded range of outdoor provision for school, youth, corporate and individual clients throughout south west England.
The company operates from a permanent 250 acre activity centre in the heart of the Mendip Hills as well as 8 activity bases throughout the South West. These include off-site facilities for rock climbing, canoeing, abseiling and caving. Accommodation is available within a 120 bed on-site tented village and local residential centres.
In 2012 the business acquired a well established snowsports centre that offers skiing and snowboarding on a 165 metre winding dry slope. The merger of this predominantly winter operation was carefully integrated to transform the previously seasonal outdooor activity business into a 12 month operation.
Prioritising Staff Development and Training
Mendip Managing Director, David Eddins explains the unique approach that helped them achieve this transformation.
“Our outdoor business was predominantly running from April to October. The snowsports business was profitable during the winter months but loss-making for most of the rest of the year. By bringing the snowsports business into our established outdoor business we were able to move from a full time team of 8 instructors supplemented with freelancers, to a year-round team of 40 instructors on permanent full time and part time contracts. Our outdoor team were re-trained to teach introductory snowsports and we helped some of the established snowsports instructors gain outdoor experience and qualifications so that we could offer both groups of staff more year-round employment.
We also brought our holistic approach to safety management and customer service from the outdoors to the snowsports business. This transformed both the safety record and levels of repeat business within the snowsports business.”
David, a graduate in Outdoor & Environmental Education actually joined Mendip as an Apprentice Instructor 20 years ago and is a firm believer in the core importance of staff training and development.
“Our greatest strength always has been and always will be our team. The Mendip uniform is worn with genuine pride and we consider ourselves privileged to work in this industry.”
Mendip have developed a pioneering Trainee Instructor Programme which introduces 8-10 young people to the industry every year. This is a 12 month programme which provides trainees with paid employment and the opportunity to gain NGB qualifications while they work alongside experienced Instructors. Trainees are incentivised to gain qualifications as quickly as possible and can move into higher paid roles within each area of activity once they gain qualifications.
David also sees the development of risk management skills as fundamental to their company philosophy.
“We have always operated at remote outdoor locations so we have to be sure that all of our Instructors share an “attitude” to risk management that we can trust. We see risk management more as a state of mind than anything else. We have to be confident that they have the training and common sense to assess all environmental factors so that they can reduce the inherent risk of outdoor activities to an acceptable and safe level.”
Being part of the AIM network
Activities Industry Mutual have insured Mendip since 2008 and David has always valued their partnership approach alongside with the traditional insurance services that they provide.
“AIM were actually really helpful when we were looking to get involved in the snowsports business. They introduced us to other dry ski slope operators through their client network and meeting these people gave us valuable insights which made a big difference in those important early years. I am inspired by the concept of a mutual and really appreciate being part of a friendly network of operators.”
Mendip have Public Liability cover of £5m and Employers Liability cover of £10m. AIM also extend the Public Liability cover up to £10m for selected clients who require a higher level of cover. David appreciates the flexibility that allows him to upgrade cover levels for specific client groups and also the fact that AIM premiums take into account the good safety record that Mendip have worked so hard to develop:
“When we took on the snowsports business AIM knew that we would be applying the same principles of safety management that we had applied for years in our outdoor operations. This allowed us to benefit from our established track record as we moved into this new area of activity”
