New emergency response team has £1m target

AN ‘all trades’ contractor is predicting a sales surge of £1m after identifying a niche market for fixed price emergency repairs.
Edinburgh firm First Call Business Assist believes the rapid repair response will help small- and medium-sized businesses avoid the risk of being closed down in the event of emergencies.
With the capital in particular enjoying healthy levels of activity in the commercial property sector in recent months and the strongest take-up of space since the 2009 slump, the firm is expecting high demand. It plans to land 4,000 contracts in the next 12 months.
The service has been launched by the team behind First Call Home Assist, which provides a similar fixed price service for home owners and landlords and which has developed a UK-wide trade network.
Managing director Paul Greaves said: “We think there is potentially huge demand for an affordable monthly contract that allows businesses to deal with the problems that insurance companies don’t want to know about until it’s too late.”
He added: “A cracked pipe or a broken drain can put a business completely out of action, and you then have all the hassle and expense of organising for a plumber to come out and fix the problem. If there’s a long wait to get the fault repaired, it can also cause further damage to the property, which will have to be covered by your insurers. These are the sorts of unforeseen disasters that can put a company out of business.”