We talk with H Stephen Phillips, CEO of Reparalia - HomeServe Spain about its business and the relationship with the British Chamber of Commerce in Spain.

1. Reparalia is a HomeServe PLC company (FTSE
250 HSV). In Spain, they are present with two
affiliates, Reparalia Direct and Reparalia S.A.
HomeServe was founded over 22 years ago, as a
joint venture between Richard Harpin and South
Staffordshire Water Company. In 2004,
HomeServe demerged from the water
company. Today the group has over 4 million
customers and a market cap of 1.26bn pounds.
In 2005, they decided to enter the Spanish
market and begin their market research, product
development and prospecting for partners. In
2007, they acquired a small home assistance
company from FCC, named Reparalia, and in
2008 signed their first marketing agreement with
Endesa Energía.
Today they have agreements with three utilities,
as well as with other B2B2C partners. They have
1.2M customers and manage more than 750k
household claims a year for their customers and
those of more than 15 insurance companies who
work with them. They expect to double their
turnover and customer numbers over the next 5
years.
How is the business in Reparalia?
Our business is built on developing long-term
relationships with our partners, offering our
customers home assistance in respect of
plumbing, heating and electrical-related
emergencies and repairs. We plan to extend our
services to include provision of heating
installations. We provide our services through
franchised and sub-contract networks of
engineers.
With the customer clearly at the heart of the
business, we have developed strategies to
enable us to fulfil our vision and mission.
What is the main goal of Reparalia?
Our vision is to become the world's favourite
plumbers, heating engineers and electricians.
Our mission is to provide home assistance
membership, which frees our customers from
the worry and inconvenience of emergencies,
repairs and installations. We expect to be the
most efficient and reliable repair company, and
more importantly, the highest rated according to
our end customers.
Between the business in Spain and United
Kingdom, what are the advantages that
Reparalia sees?
The most favourable factor for me would be the
quality of the workforce in Spain. We find people
very well prepared at all levels, who are
hardworking and committed. The Spanish are
overall optimistic and look for solutions to
problems.
How does the British Chamber of Commerce
help to develop your business in Spain?
After a couple of years prospecting and
performing market studies, we used the
Chamber and other organisations like UKTI to
help us connect with potential business
partners. In 2008, we began trading in Spain.
Today we have six offices with more than 700
employees and over 1.2M customers. Spain is an
important market for our group. We have good
commercial relationships and a very solid
customer base. The cooperation and
collaboration we received from the Chamber and
UKTI was key to our achievements.
On the other hand, what barriers can
Reparalia perceive between business in Spain
and UK?
Barriers to starting a business are access to
capital, administrative barriers such as the
collective bargaining agreements in place, that
are out of date, and the decline in purchasing
power of consumers. Loans for small businesses
dropped 70% from 2007 to 2013. British
companies entering the market should be
prepared to provide comfort letters to Spanish
institutions when seeking financing for their
start-ups. Most major commercial banks in Spain
also operate in the UK market and many have a
strong presence there. We are finding it is easier
every year to manage and find better solutions
for working capital facilities between the Spain
and the UK.
We are now recovering from an economic
crisis, did it affect Reparalia?
The economy certainly affected our business.
Customers affected by the recession with less
disposable income cancelled policies and we
experienced a drop in customer retention rates.
We still grew during the recession but not as
quickly as before. It really put our marketing
teams to the test, and now several years on, we
have recovered more than 10 points in retention
and our customer numbers are growing as fast as
ever. I do notexpect we will ever return to the
levels of consumption we saw before the crisis,
but we are seeing an increasing demand for our
products and services.
Spain is an important market for our group. We have good
commercial relationships and a very solid customer base
”“
The cooperation and collaboration we received from the Chamber was key to
our achievements
”“
H Stephen Phillips, CEO of Reparalia -
HomeServer spain
Interview with Corporate Member
H Stephen Phillips, CEO of Reparalia - HomeServe Spain