Northwick Associates

Northwick Associates is a family-run business based in Kershaw, Worcestershire. The organisation works across the country providing repairs and maintenance to gym and fitness equipment, such as treadmills, cross-trainers, bikes, etc.

The company has been operating since 2003 and in the past two years has almost doubled in size. Northwick now employs around 15 technicians.

Jon Isaacs, Director at Northwick, tells us a little about the reason why he and his wife sought out Croner’s services:

“My wife Alison and I were facing a number of issues that seemed to crop up all at once. Some of them were employment issues, some were health & safety problems. We were responsible for both areas in the business and we felt we needed support—the business had grown to a size where we felt that we weren’t the experts we needed to be.

“The business has doubled in size in the last couple of years and we’ve experience quite a high turnover of people. It’s not the sort of job that suits everybody, so there’s been quite a bit of training and a few people coming and going. It’s settled down now but going through it at the time was quite a challenge.

“I’d heard of the Croner name previously, so I recognised the brand. But, the main reason we signed up was because what was being offered was the best fit for our needs at the time. I think it was a good decision.”

“Croner has helped us with a number of issues,” states Jon, “One is bettering the way we manage our staff. We’ve now got a company handbook and employee profiles set up online which help manage their holidays.

“The health & safety support we’ve received has been really good. We’ve recently installed a 3,500 litre fuel tank and we were able to get some specific answers on the health & safety issues relating to that within a couple of hours of asking.

“We’ve also had support with employment law, including advice on dismissals and misconduct, which was very helpful. We’ve utilised the telephone support quite a bit for various HR queries.

“When I seek advice it’s usually related to health & safety. However, as I’m quite familiar with the typical challenges that crop up in our industry, it’s only when something very specific crops up that I want clarification. That’s when I speak to Croner about it.

“Overall, I think we’ve made full use of all of the services available to us,” says Jon.

“Working with Croner has been really good, really easy, and I’m very impressed with the specific knowledge the advisors have relating to our industry. Some of the more challenging queries that can be difficult to find advice on have been made straightforward.”

“The initial issues that brought us to Croner are the type of issues that tend to crop up periodically. However, everything that we’ve needed resolving has now been resolved thanks to Croner.