Kevin Croft, Operations Site Director, Verisure

Why Verisure chose to ‘move on up’ to North East England

In February 2020 Europe’s largest domestic alarm provider, Verisure UK Services Limited, opened its new office in North East England with the ambition to create 1,000 new jobs over the next ten years.

Kevin Croft, Operations Site Director at Verisure, explains why the company chose to ‘move on up’ to North East England, and why the region is the perfect place for Verisure to continue its global growth journey.

Can you tell us a bit more about Verisure’s journey to expand outside of London?

Our head office remains in London but because the business is growing at such as fast rate, we needed to find a stable, efficient and effective base for the company to expand.

Operating the business in London comes with its own set of challenges. The unemployment rate – certainly pre-pandemic - was close to zero, which means loyalty rates are not as high as we’d like them to be. It was difficult to build a stable and consolidated employee base.

That led us to think about finding a location that gave us access to a loyal, dedicated workforce that want to build a long-term career with our company.

When you visited North East England as part of your onsite visits, what impressed you the most about the region?

First and foremost, it was the excellent quality of life on offer in the region. At the time, my family and I were living in London in a two bedroom flat. Since moving to the North East we’re fortunate enough to have a four bedroom, detached home, at two-thirds of the price of our London flat. The affordability of housing was definitely a positive factor.

Another thing that really impressed us was the easy access to coast and countryside – both are just a short drive away. Newcastle and the wider North East have so much to offer employees, everything from cultural activities, music, and nature.

Our research also showed a lot of talent supply in North East England; there are around 110,000 students at the region’s universities and colleges. Because we we’re building our new team in the North East from scratch, that supply of talent is really important.

During our early visits to North East England we had the opportunity to meet with representatives from the Contact Centre Association, and leading businesses like PWC. We got to hear, first hand, their experience of working with the local population, and it was all very positive. It reinforced what we’d learnt through our research.

A number of your team chose to relocate to North East England from London. What do you think impressed them about the region?

We got to see the quality of life on offer, what the lifestyle was like, and also meet real estate agents and learn more the region’s schools. This all played a significant part in our decision to choose North East England. We want a happy employee base; we want our staff to enjoy what they do and where they do it. That’s often harder to find in bigger, more densely populated cities.

Another really important factor why 50 of our employees chose to move here - myself included - is because North East England is the future of our company. We all want to be part of Verisure’s continued growth and success, and this is where it will happen.

What does the future hold for Verisure in North East England?

When we completed our first year in North East England and had expected to reach an employee count of 85. We currently employ more than 350 people. We’ve experienced explosive growth in what has been, arguably, the most challenging business year since the financial crash of 2008.

I was involved in the research process to move to North East England and I was also the first employee to relocate here, so I’ve lived the journey end to end. One year on, we can confidently say we made the right decision.

To read more about Verisure’s expansion in the North East, and why more and more businesses are making the move from the congested and over-heated South East of England to set up their global operations in North East England, visit investnortheastengland.co.uk/move-on-up