• March 29, 2024
 Hear from Farewill, double winners at The British Wills and Probate Awards

Hear from Farewill, double winners at The British Wills and Probate Awards

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 the Will Writing Firm of the Year and Small Probate Provider of the Year Award winner, Farewill

How did you feel winning the Will Writing Firm and Small Probate Provider of the Year Awards this year?

We’re delighted! The team has been amazing this year, rising to incredibly difficult challenges to make sure we’ve been able to support our customers. I’m so pleased we have the opportunity to celebrate their work.

We created Farewill because we passionately believed there was an opportunity to provide brilliant, consumer-focused wills and probate services at scale. Today, we’re helping thousands of people every month. Winning the awards is brilliant recognition from the wider industry and it means a lot to all of us in the business.

So, who are Farewill? What do you do?

We’re here to make dealing with death easier, friendlier and more affordable. I’m proud to say that Farewill is now the UK’s largest and best-rated provider of death services. Alongside our will-writing and probate services, this year we’ve launched direct and attended cremation services, as well as helping people to make a Lasting Power of Attorney.

How has your organisation developed in the last 12 months and navigated the added complexity of the coronavirus pandemic?

We were growing fast before COVID-19 and, since March, we’ve seen a 5x increase in demand.

As a business, we’re all about finding new ways to do things, so we’re used to acting quickly and changing things fast.

We were able to transition the team to full remote working without any loss of service. And this year we’ve offered free wills for NHS staff, created a process to fast-track wills for frontline workers, hired 50 people, started opening on Sundays and launched a new telephone wills service to serve people who aren’t online or who have complex needs.

That’s as well as launching our new services. We’ve also closed a £20 million round of investment led by Highland Europe.

We’ve been busy, and we’re pleased to say it’s paid off. We’ve managed to help thousands more families.

What’s next on the cards for you?

Our immediate focus is refining and growing our funerals, cremations and LPAs services. We’re also investing heavily in our internal tooling, looking at ways we can best support our growing team.

What advice would you give someone thinking of joining the Wills and Probate sector?

This is an unusual, fascinating, and emotional area to work in, with a real opportunity to make a huge impact for people at an important time in their lives – if you’re up for a big challenge, we’d love to hear from you!

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?

It’s vital to highlight all the meaningful work everyone in the industry is doing to help people navigate some of the toughest times of their lives, and to encourage innovation to tackle the challenges posed by COVID. It’s also a great reminder that we’re all in it together.

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.

Jennifer van Deursen