BUSINESS
GGF SADDENED TO LOSE FOUNDER MEMBER
The Glass and Glazing Federation (GGF) is saddened to hear that Everest Ltd
has gone into pre-pack administration. Everest was a founder member of the
GGF and has been a regular contributor to GGF meetings for over 40 years.
» THE PRE-PACK ADMINISTRATION
comes against the backdrop of COVID-19,
two months of lockdown and subsequent drop
in consumer confidence. Better Capital said
assets of Everest Ltd, including the company’s
order pipeline, were sold via a pre-pack
administration to a new trading company,
Everest 2020. The deal was principally
financed by the BECAP12 Fund, which
invested £3.2m into the creation of the new
business. Existing window and conservatory
orders were protected with the sale in addition
to safeguarding hundreds of jobs.
John Agnew, GGF Managing Director
commented, “It is always sad when any
company goes into administration, but when
this happens to a long established company
with a strong consumer brand, it has a greater
impact on the industry. From the GGF’s
perspective, we have lost a founder member,
but we still have a very strong membership
who are continuing to use our services, advice
and guidance to get through these extremely
difficult times.”
With Everest Ltd taking consumer deposits,
many consumers may have feared losing
their money. Everest Ltd was a contributing
company to the GGF Deposit Indemnity
Fund up until the closure of the GGF Fund
Ltd on 31st March 2020.
GGF Fund Ltd and the GGF (the Trade
Federation) are two completely separate
companies. The GGF Deposit Indemnity
Fund will deal with consumer deposits that
were paid prior to 1st April and were covered
by the GGF Deposit Indemnity Fund.
In March, GGF Fund Ltd announced that
it was closing to any new business after 31st
March 2020. This was due to the insurance
sector assessment of the risk in industry due to
the COVID-19 pandemic.
John Agnew, Chairman of GGF Fund Ltd
added, “All companies in the GGF Fund
have been notified of the procedures in
place in relation to payments to consumers
and the GGF Fund Ltd will deal fairly and
transparently with any claims made on the
GGF Deposit Indemnity Fund.”
www.ggf.org.uk
First insurance provider to
reward ‘digitally aware’ SMEs
» PEN UNDERWRITING IS A MULTIclass,
multi-territory managing general agent
(MGA) that operates as a virtual insurer,
meaning it can fulfil all the typical functions
of an insurance company — from sales,
distribution, pricing and product innovation
through to claims, analytics and governance
— except carry risk.
Now, it has become the first insurance
provider to partner with the Police Digital
Security Centre (PDSC) on a new national
certification scheme designed to boost the
cyber security resilience of small businesses
in the UK, by announcing it will recognise
and reward firms that can demonstrate
they are ‘Digitally Aware’, with a ‘premium
discount’. The intention is to recognise firms
who have invested in cybercrime awareness
and demonstrate their commitment to taking
cyber security seriously.
Developed by the PDSC, in collaboration
with BSI (British Standards Institution),
the ‘Digitally Aware’ certification scheme
is centred upon a simple online assessment
tool, which enables small businesses to test
and improve how resilient they are to the
most common types of cybercrime. Simon
Newman, Head of Cyber & Business Services
at the PDSC, said: “We’ve developed this
simple online assessment tool and certification
scheme because it’s important small businesses
regularly review their vulnerability to common
types of cybercrime, understand their exposure
to risk and put in place simple control
measures to improve their own resilience. And
having that enhanced resilience recognised
when it comes to buying insurance will be
welcomed by UK small businesses, who are
already facing a very challenging time.”
Adrian Scott, Head of International &
Financial Lines at Pen Underwriting and
global cyber risk specialist, said: “This is
a very timely and valuable Police scheme
that we’re proud to support. It’s in all our
interests to help small businesses recognise
their vulnerability to the fast-evolving risks
of cybercrime and take steps to improve their
resilience to what is now an omnipresent
threat. Just as the insurance industry
acknowledges actions policyholders take to
alleviate the risk of flooding to their homes, or
drivers who can demonstrate they are a better
risk on the roads, so too should we look to
encourage firms to reduce their risk of falling
victim to costly cybercrime or attacks that can
effectively stop their business from trading.”
www.penunderwriting.co.uk
www.policedsc.com
70 » JUL 2020 » CLEARVIEW-UK.COM