This year marks 2 very important anniversaries for our business, it is 30 years since I set up Claverley Hyde Financial Risks with Paul Moors and Marianne Day and 25 years since our MBO. It is hard to think where all that time has gone, and I could say the same about my hair as well.
Way back in 1989 I was lucky enough to get first break in the credit insurance industry with Trade Indemnity. This was transformational for me and gave me the opportunity to work for a great company and to be involved in an industry that really does make a difference in helping our clients to safely grow their businesses and too be able to sleep at night. It is very rewarding work, which probably explains why so many people stay within the credit insurance industry once they have experience of working in it.
During this time, we have had and continue to have some great people working with us, who have been an integral part of our success. We are blessed to have several clients who are still with us after 30 years and we have many others who have been with us for well over 10 years, which is quite humbling, and their continued support is greatly appreciated. We have also continued to grow and we have welcomed a number of newer clients over the last few years and it is great to have them on board as well.
Over the years we have built great relationships with our key partners, Atradius, Allianz Trade, Coface, Tokio Marine HCC and QBE and we have worked with some of the very best people in our industry, who have helped to build our business on the foundations of mutual trust, respect and service.
We had great support from Helen Stones a Barclays Bank in getting the MBO away and it was a very tricky start with a lot of borrowed money and nothing coming in and an awful lot going out. It is all credit to Sara Humphreys for having the confidence to agree to me leaving a well-paid job and to signing up for the personal guarantees, with us having to live off credit cards and me working all hours when the boys were little.
It is very rewarding work, and I am often asked if I want to slow down, but the opposite is true, I want to speed up. It is a great pleasure for me to now be working with my sons Matt & Mike, who have given me a whole new lease of business life.
I could not name check everyone who has helped us along the way, it would have been a long old list, but thank you very much to all who have helped us along the way and here’s to the next 25 years.
