Dorset-based national inventory service VeriSmart has signed up to ‘Suzy’s Code’. Pictured: Jonathan Senior, Chairman of VeriSmart Inventories.
The Dorset-based national inventory service VeriSmart has signed up to ‘Suzy’s Code’ – named after Suzy Lamplugh, the estate agent who went missing in 1986.
As its licensees and clerks usually work alone, VeriSmart chairman Jonathan Senior wanted to make them as safe as possible.
So he signed up to the code and also subscribed to a mobile phone app that allows workers to call for help or raise an alert at the press of a button.
Suzy Lamplugh disappeared in Fulham, South West London, after having arranged an appointment to meet a client for a house viewing. She has never been found.
VeriSmart’s licensees and clerks use a copyrighted, paper-free system to create inventories for landlords and letting agents.
As they often carry out a variety of other services they can be in a particular property for some time.
Suzy’s Code was devised by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust and involves a raft of practical measures to make lone workers safer.
These include a buddy system and a procedure to follow if someone does not return or check in when they are expected.
Jonathan Senior said: “We have more than 100 members of the business across the country and while they all receive our safety training, we wanted to go further than that.
“So we have signed up to Suzy’s Code and have also introduced the New Zealand-made Verisafe app, which is incredibly simple and effective. It is the best one we trialled.
“The app has two buttons on a phone screen, one is a ‘help’ button and one is an ‘at risk’ button.
“The ‘help’ button, when activated, broadcasts an immediate message to those listed as help contacts, via email and text with a Google Map showing where they are.
“The second is used to log in when anyone feels vulnerable or ‘at risk’, with a time period to cancel the alert prior to a help message being sent.”
VeriSmart Inventories has signed up to the Verisafe app.
A spokesman from the Suzy Lamplugh Trust said: “When Suzy went missing, it was in the days before smart phones – the only clue her company had to whereabouts was an entry in the diary.
“We know from the work we carry out with companies that things have changed since 1986 but we’ve carried out new research indicates that 30 years on, safety in the housing sector is still a concern for estate agents and consumers too.
“The Suzy Lamplugh Trust is delighted that VeriSmart has signed up to Suzy’s Code and looks forward to support from others in the housing sector to show leadership in prioritising personal safety for workers.”
VeriSmart is based in Poole.
Notes to editors
VeriSmart Inventories was re-branded in 2015 after developing its unique smart verification software that allows for the paper-free inventories to be compiled with speed and accuracy. The company was launched 25 years ago in the Bournemouth and Poole conurbation in Dorset, where it is still headquartered. The new technology allowed the business to adopt a franchise model. Some of its licensees make a substantial six figure income. It operates across England and now Wales.
For more information contact Ed Baker at Deep South Media on 01202 534487 or 07788392965.
