CPA Bulletin

Bill Hill wrapped up a fascinating mental health session with his three recommendations to help improve mental health - always ask if someone is OK, then ask a second time; seek first to understand; and always be kind. Merrill Lynch finished the session by very commendably putting himself forward to become a Mental Health First Aider in the Lynch business. Following lunch, the delegates reconvened and Merryn Myatt led a highly informative session about how companies can develop risk management strategies and cope with unexpected issues such as cyber-attacks, data breaches, acts of terrorism and product recalls. All of which can prove damaging to brands, a company’s reputation and affect the bottom line, as well as attracting attention from the media. Merryn talked about the need to prepare before a crisis hits and to come up with strategies to deal with any threat to reputation. She referred to the speed at which content now goes global in a world where news is being created 24 hours a day by anyone online. Ably assisted by four fascinating video clips which illustrated where people have got it spectacularly wrong, or dealt with it in a professional manner, Merryn referred to her top tips to deal with a potential crisis. She talked about the need to sit down and work out what issues organisations may be worried about, as whatever a company is uncertain about or might have gone wrong, it will invariably get out in the public domain. Merryn also urged delegates to always engage and not run away from a story. No comment is simply not an option and it will not kill the story, quite the reverse. She stressed the need to have a crisis management plan and to commit one person to it and inform colleagues, as opposed to dealing with a crisis when it actually happens. Further advice included informing customers and other stakeholders first and both acknowledging mistakes and apologising for problems caused. Another important topic in the plant-hire industry is plant theft and fraud which was the focus for the next panel session. Involved in this session were Iain Anderson , Managing Director of GAP Group, Kevin Howells , Managing Director of Datatag, Michael Gregory , Managing Director of JCB Insurance and Detective Inspector Ernie Locke of West Mercia Police. Merryn posed the question to the panel about what the industry can do to help prevent plant theft, and Iain Anderson referred to the need to enhance staff awareness of the kind of tactics that criminals are using nowadays as they become more sophisticated as opposed to just ‘smash and grab’ villains. He talked about thieves using identity fraud and even coming equipped to plant hire depots with vans that are liveried up with fake company details. Criminals are also using bogus e-mail addresses which very closely mirror genuine company e-mail details. Iain advised that thorough checks should be carried out if a new company wants to place a hire, such as follow-up phone calls to determine that the company is genuine and obtaining some form of ID. GAP, for example, has started asking for passport details from customers and Iain stressed the importance of remaining vigilant during the winter period when thefts tend to increase with dark nights appearing earlier in the day. Iain also shared information of an ‘inside job’ incident, where an employee was found to be engaging in criminal activity and was caught red-handed on CCTV putting GAP-owned equipment in his car. Kevin Howells referred to Datatag’s CESAR construction security and registration theft deterrent system which is designed for the protection of construction machinery and uses a unique electronic transponder combination and datadots with invisible forensic DNA. Used throughout the sector, over 340,000 items of equipment have been CESAR registered since Datatag introduced the scheme. CPACONFERENCEREVIEW2019: 4 www.cpa.uk.net CPA Bulletin > November 2019 17