On Thursday 22 October 2020, professionals from across the wills and probate sector came together to celebrate the successes and achievements of the industry is what has been a challenging year, at the British Wills and Probate Awards 2020.
The awards, which was back for it’s third year, took to the virtual stage and was hosted by ex-Royal correspondent, Jennie Bond, alongside headline sponsor Arken.legal (UK), and champagne sponsor Executor Solutions.
500 people watched the winning organisations take the crown this year. The full list of winners is available here. The online event is available to watch here.
Let’s hear from Probate Provider of the Year (Large) Award winner, Kings Court Trust
About the Large Probate Provider of the Year Award
This award goes to the Probate Provider who has kept the interests of both the client and strategic provider at the forefront of its practice.
The winner of this award must:
- Demonstrate the ability to deliver high standards of service and support to clients
- Show that they provide real benefits to clients and strategic partners
- Show that they work consistently to improve efficiencies and reduce costs for all parties
- Show innovation in developing and bringing to market new service offerings
- Show they adopt the best philosophy to client integration
Kings Court Trust were shortlisted alongside:
- Co-Op Legal Services (Highly Commended)
- Chadwick Lawrence
During the judging process, the judges decided that Kings Court Trust were the worthy winners saying:
“A strong submission with continuous improvement and customer service at its heart.”
How did you feel winning the Large Probate Provider of the Year Award this year?
We were delighted to receive the Probate Provider of the Year for Large Firms for the second year! It’s a real testament to our excellent team and business partners who provide an outstanding service to the families who entrust us to take care of their estate administration. We are so proud to be recognised for all the hard work, service and care our team and business partners provide to our customers.
So, who are Kings Court Trust? What do you do?
We are a specialist provider of probate and estate administration supporting thousands of families every year. We offer a range of services from just obtaining the Grant of Probate to taking care of everything with our full estate administration service.
We are proud to deliver a personal service that we believe makes a difference for those who entrust us to take care of their probate or estate administration. We only offer fixed fees to provide our clients with complete transparency about our service and price.
Our team is made up of just over 100 staff all focused around delivering the highest quality of service to our customers and partners. The team has the experience and knowledge to offer a professional and empathetic service at the sensitive time of losing a loved one.
How has your firm developed in the last 12 months and navigated the added complexity of the coronavirus pandemic?
None of us could have predicted the challenges we have faced in 2020 but we’re proud of how our business has adapted quickly and without disruption to our customers and partners. Our Business Continuity Plan allowed us to quickly get our team up and running from home, we’ve embraced technology and supported our partners from a distance by temporarily offering a financial support scheme during uncertain times.
Putting the pandemic aside, we have implemented even more structural, service and process-driven changes to deliver an exceptional experience for our clients. This is certainly recognised in our excellent reviews and ever-improving Trustpilot score.
What’s next on the cards for you?
At Kings Court Trust, we’re constantly looking for ways to improve our service and the customer journey. Next on the cards for us is a brand-new IT system which will allow us to be more efficient, further improve customer experience and introduce more automated processes. By focusing on automation in repetitive or administrative tasks, it will allow us to free up more of our team’s time to focus even more on customer service. We’re currently in the planning phase to ensure we have a smooth transition in early 2021.
What advice would you give someone thinking of joining the Wills and Probate sector?
Be ready for a challenge – the Wills and Probate sector is constantly evolving and there’s a lot of technical knowledge you’ll need to learn. Additionally, always put the customer first as they’re seeking your services at a potentially difficult time and an empathetic and supportive approach will go a long way.
Why is the British Wills and Probate Awards event, which recognises excellence and highlights achievements in the industry, so important to the industry, especially this year?
The British Wills and Probate Awards event is a great opportunity to bring the movers and shakers of the industry together so we were grateful that the event could still proceed virtually. It was the boost we all needed in these unprecedented times! We certainly saw more activity and conversation via social media channels, so it has been a pleasure to network online with industry leaders. Although, we did miss the opportunity to network in-person with other professionals within the industry, we do hope that next year we’ll be able to all come together again!
Everyone at Today’s Wills and Probate congratulates all those who were shortlisted in this year’s awards.
More information about the British Wills and Probate Awards can be found here.
