Managing Director’s Seven Year Itch Sees Firm Distance Itself From The Crowd

The managing director of Speed Medical, the UK’s third largest medico-legal reporting company, throws down the gauntlet to the rest of the medico-legal industry during the announcement of his firm’s rebranding.
By: Neil Bent
 
Sept. 12, 2011 - PRLog -- “We’re tired of listening to competitors tell everyone how good they are while customers tell us a very different story so we’ve made a conscious decision to step out from the shadows into the spotlight, marking a new phase in our strategic evolution from one of the sector’s best kept secrets to one of its brightest stars.”

So says Graham Pulford, managing director of Speed Medical, the UK’s third largest medico-legal reporting company, as he throws down the gauntlet to the rest of the medico-legal industry during the announcement of his firm’s rebranding: an announcement made on the seventh anniversary of his tenure as MD, symbolically distancing the privately owned company even further from its main competitors.

The challenge to ‘put up or shut up’ and the rebranding are both key elements of Speed Medical’s new operational approach, formulated on the back of extensive customer research and the internal launch of an ambitious new growth strategy. The last few months have seen numerous senior appointments, an overhaul of procedures and targets and, in June, the launch of an innovative home-based rehabilitation service to help injured parties.

Now comes the rebranding, in a further move that hints at Pulford’s increasing desire to distance his firm from the industry’s other operators. On the face of it, the exercise involved a simple dropping of the words ‘examination services’ from the brand name, the introduction of a softer typeface and the replacement of a rather clinical looking blue and green logo with a warmer, more dynamic icon, employing a distinctive purple and grey colour scheme.

However, behind the changes lies sound strategic reasoning not to mention deep psychological analysis. Whilst shorter in length the new brand name provides a broader umbrella identity that will allow the company to enter new markets and offer new services.

And the logo, very different from everything else in the sector, whilst reminiscent of the letter S, is suggestive of two people actively engaging with each other, a key tenet of Speed Medical’s philosophy - business is done between people not faceless entities.
      
All operational stationery has already been replaced and a stylish new brochure and much enhanced website have also been launched.

Returning to his bold announcement, Pulford comments: “This rebranding is not purely a cosmetic exercise, it is much more significant than it may appear at first glance. It signposts our broader intentions and asserts our desire to be different. For instance, rather than an incessant reliance on technology to drive efficiencies and maximise profits, we use IT but we place our people and their personal touch at the centre of everything we do. People are at the core of what we do; injured parties, solicitors, insurers, medical experts, people who like the reassurance of dealing with other people.”

“And my challenge to the industry isn’t superficial bluster either. In hindsight I’ve probably bitten my tongue for too long. I would rather be the best than the biggest and looking at our service levels and customer feedback I’d say we’re well on the way to achieving that goal, especially with the new plans we now have in place. I just wish everybody in the medico-legal sector shared our desire to put customer service and hence satisfaction first.”

Ends

For more information, interview requests or digital photography, please contact:  
Neil Bent on T: 01457 869 477  M: 07957 143 450  E: neil@ablecommunications.co.uk
Bridget Batty on  M: 07771 870 400  E: bridget@ablecommunications.co.uk

Notes:
Established in 1998 and based in Chorley, Speed Medical employs around 145 people, turns over approximately £40M, and works with over 4,000 medical experts throughout the UK.

One of the UK’s largest medico-legal reporting firms, in terms of volume, the business has grown organically since its inception to provide solicitors and insurers with an unrivalled level of product tailoring and industry leading standards of service.

Aside from the preparation of medico-legal reports used to assist in personal injury cases, its distinctive product offer includes rehabilitative treatment and diagnostic investigations.

Appointed in 2004, Graham Pulford is the managing director of Speed. Pulford joined Speed following 15 years’ experience gained in a variety of roles providing software solutions to the insurance sector.

Speed Medical House, Matrix Park, Chorley, PR7 7NA. http://www.speedmedical.com

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Source:Neil Bent
Email:***@ablecommunications.co.uk Email Verified
Tags:Medico-legal, Outsourcing, Insurance, Personal Injury
Industry:Insurance
Location:England
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