Reparalia is a HomeServe PLC company (FTSE 250 HSV). In Spain, they are present with two a�liates, Reparalia Direct and Reparalia S.A. HomeServe was founded over 22 years ago, as a joint venture between Richard Harpin and South Sta�ordshire 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 �rst 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, o�ering 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 ful�l 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 e�cient 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 �nd 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 o�ces 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 �nancing 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 �nding it is easier every year to manage and �nd better solutions for working capital facilities between the Spain and the UK.

We are now recovering from an economic crisis, did it a�ect Reparalia?The economy certainly a�ected our business. Customers a�ected 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