New investment in FirstAssist for enhanced services

Confirming a continued commitment to FirstAssist Services, Barclays Private Equity (BPE) is making a significant new investment in the business. A primary use of the investment will be in the implementation of a new customer service system, as well as enhancements to FirstAssistís key service areas, starting with Absence Management.

A renewed focus by BPE on the business follows the recent appointment of Ian Sparks as Managing Director for FirstAssist Services. Comments Ian Sparks, ìIn a move to make our services even more accessible to our customers and their employees and clients, the new customer service system will fully integrate all of FirstAssistís services onto one operating platform. This will provide an infrastructure to allow us to concentrate on delivering excellent customer service, improving working practices and offering access to live information.î

The new system will be implemented over the next 4 months, with FirstAssist working closely with customers to ensure minimum disruption during the change-over. The FirstAssist Absence Management proposition will also be relaunched late Spring to provide businesses with a greater insight into staff absence and provide the tools to help employees return to work quicker.

ìI am tremendously excited about the services and expertise available from FirstAssist Services and, with the continued backing of BPE, I feel immensely confident that we can deliver a real difference to our customers, enhancing people performance and productivity,î concludes Ian Sparks. ìIn the short time I have been at FirstAssist I have been able to see first hand that the business has a tremendous portfolio of services. These are already making a real difference to the productivity and profitability of organisations in both the public and private sector. We have some of the best practitioners in the marketplace and my goal is to ensure we stay focused on our core areas of expertise.î