Watchstone Group is a holding company with technology at its core.

Our businesses offer leading technology solutions primarily to the insurance, automotive and healthcare industries.

While we have a diverse portfolio, our operating businesses are unified by a set of shared commercial principles:

■We seek to anticipate change and we have the agility to exploit the dynamism of customer behaviour
■We invest in the people and technologies that will drive innovation and success in our markets
■We promote in-depth sector knowledge and experience as the starting point of value creation, and
■We strive for efficiency across our businesses through the optimal allocation of resources and good governance

                   

NEWS

26th Jan 2018 Pre-close trading update
11th May 2017 Prospective claim by Slater and Gordon
05th May 2017 Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2016
27th Apr 2017 Preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2016

VIDEO/AUDIO/PRESENTATIONS

May 2017 2016 Annual Report and Accounts
Jun 2016 Presentation-Results for the six months ended 30 June 2016
27th May Watchstone Audio Webcast-Financial Results
27th Jan Watchstone Group Outline Strategy

EVENTS

The 2017 Commercial Vehicle Show (CV Show)25th-27th April -UK (Hubio)
The Strategic Claims conference2nd March-UK (Hubio)
2017 Insurance-Canada.ca Technology Conference28th February-Canada (Hubio)
NRF's Annual Convention & EXPO (Retail's BIG Show)15th-17th January-USA (Tech Mahindra-Bronze sponsors/exhibitor)
2017 Commercial Vehicle Show25th-27th April-UK (Hubio Fleet-exhibitor)

WEBSITES




LINKS TO DEDICATED PAGES

pt Health
ingenie Updated 2nd June
Innocare Updated 2nd June

Hubio Insurance ‏@hubioinsurance
6 minutes ago

Who's at the Digital Insurance Awards today? Hubio's @Hubio_Andrew and @_NeilThomson are here - come say hello! #wakeupinsurance





Edit:

Tech Mahindra are one of the sponsors

and

Digital Insurance Company of the Year/ The Digital Champion Award

Aviva ***winner***
BGL Group
Ingenie

This has been released internationally and without embargo on RNS and will appear at 7am in the UK.

Watchstone Group plc

("Watchstone" or the "Group")

Retention of warranty escrow monies


Watchstone Group plc (LON:WTG) notes the announcement by Slater and Gordon Limited (ASX: SGH) that it has obtained an opinion from an independent barrister in respect of the warranty escrow relating to the sale of the Professional Services Division in May 2015 ("Opinion").

Watchstone has received a copy of the Opinion, which states that a warranty claim presented by Slater and Gordon Limited and/or Slater and Gordon (UK) 1 Ltd (together "SGH") has on balance a prospect of success and that, if successful, such claim would be likely to have a value of £53m. Accordingly, £50m is to be retained in the warranty escrow account until the warranty claim is resolved.

The Opinion is solely for the purpose of determining whether the warranty escrow may be released to Watchstone at this time. It does not pre-judge the outcome of any legal proceedings. Watchstone remains satisfied that the warranty claim has no merit and will defend it robustly if proceedings are brought.

During the process leading to the Opinion, Watchstone had no right to require disclosure of key evidence in the possession of SGH which would be relevant to the merits and quantum of the warranty claim. Watchstone believes this evidence will be available to it in the event that SGH issues proceedings and it intends to seek disclosure of such information at the earliest possible opportunity.

Capital return

Watchstone will now not proceed with its further capital return to shareholders until the warranty claim detailed above is resolved.

Balance sheet update

As at 25 November 2016, Watchstone had cash of £83.1m (excluding the Warranty Escrow).

Watchstone will make further announcements in due course, as appropriate.

Watchstone Defers Further Return Until Slater & Gordon Claim Resolved
Alliance News 30 November, 2016 | 8:12AM

LONDON (Alliance News) - Watchstone Group PLC Wednesday said it will not proceed with its planned further capital return until a warranty claim with Slater & Gordon Ltd is resolved.

Watchstone noted an announcement from Slater & Gordon detailing an opinion from an independent barrister in relation to the warranty claim Slater & Gordon is pursuing against Watchstone in regards to its GBP637.0 million deal in March 2015 to acquire the professional services arm of Quindell, the controversial firm which morphed into Watchstone in late 2015.

The opinion states that the warranty claim presented by Slater & Gordon has "on balance a prospect of success", and if successful, would likely have a value of GBP53.0 million.

As a result, Watchstone said GBP50.0 million is to be retained in the warranty escrow account until the warranty claim is resolved.

The company stressed that the opinion does not pre-judge the outcome of any legal proceeds, and that it remains satisfied that the warranty claim has no merit, and it will defend it "robustly" if proceedings are brought.

Watchstone had been planning to return the GBP50.0 million to shareholders after it was released from the warranty escrow account, having already returned GBP411.9 million to shareholders after the sale to Slater & Gordon, but said Wednesday it will not proceed with this until the claim is resolved.

Shares in Watchstone were down 12% at 167.00 pence Wednesday morning, shortly after market open.

By Hana Stewart-Smith; hanassmith@alliancenews.com; @HanaSSAllNews

http://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/news/AN_1480493561517088900/watchstone-defers-further-return-until-slater--gordon-claim-resolved.aspx

Video: ERS insurtech success with Hubio



Following the change of control, ERS had a clear objective to replace their legacy IT platform with key requirements to support their turnaround business strategy. Hubio was chosen to deliver this business critical change. 3 years on since the first technology implementation, we talked to key executive members at ERS and Hubio.

A strong working relationship
Speaking on the relationship, Mark Bacon, Active Underwriter at ERS said: “The difference that I saw in this piece of work was the way Hubio embedded themselves into our underwriting team, to really understand our business, and designed a solution that met the needs of the business.”

Clear lines of communication were fundamental to resolve any issues quickly, “We very quickly built a strong working relationship with an open dialogue on all levels and worked with ERS to adapt our ways of working as the programme needed. Our people are committed and passionate about what they do and always keen to find the right solution for the customer”, added Lynette Slater, Client Services Director at Hubio.

Powerful policy and claims management software
Tim Yorke, Chief Operating Officer at ERS highlighted the cost reduction in IT spending, “Our IT is now cost effective in a way that it never was before. Our annual IT spend has dropped by more than 60%.”

The ERS insurance business is intermediated and transacted via EDI and broker presentation, and they had over 5000 schemes to consolidate. They wanted to manage their own products and schemes, be agile and responsive and not beholden on IT. We worked closely with ERS to ensure they used as much functionality as possible out of the box, using the configuration tools to adopt their processes and rules to the ICE capabilities. As a result, ERS were able to reduce their set up from around 5000 to 250 schemes.  The true configurability of our processing and rules puts control of the operations in the hands of the business and has shortened product implementation times to weeks.

“It [the insurance system] allows us to be so much more responsive to the needs of our brokers and customers so when we identify opportunities, we can assess them quickly and we can deliver solutions to meet those needs,” Mark said. “It enables what we want to do as a business.”

Taking advantage of new features with regular upgrades
Following completion of the ERS’ IT transformation & migration over 2 years, ERS have a strategy of taking advantage of Hubio’s quarterly product roadmap – implementing a minimum of 2 upgrades per year each for Policy and Claims software and working closely with Hubio to achieve best practice adoption for their business operations.

For those who love a good cycling analogy, Peter Smith, Claims Director at ERS takes the example of the Tour de France and the peloton, “With our system, we were off the back of the peloton by a good distance and we were really struggling.” Moving onto Hubio ICE Claims has got ERS back in the race.

TR-1: NOTIFICATION OF MAJOR INTEREST IN SHARES

http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=5463664

    

Hubio expands to support its 2017 growth objectives

Award-winning insurance software solutions provider Hubio has announced a significant expansion in its UK operations to support their 2017 growth objectives.

Paul Whiskin and Peter Newman have joined them in senior pre sales and business development roles.They both join from 1insurer where they held similar roles.

Both have previous experience of Hubio, having worked with Andrew Passfield, Hubio’s Chief Product Officer before.  Passfield said that having both back was a coup for Hubio given the other options they had and reinforced the quality of our solutions.

Neil Thomson, Strategic Sales Director at Hubio added: “We are delighted to boost the team with these new appointments. The wealth of experience and vast insurance industry knowledge they both bring are significant additions to Hubio, and will support our drive to grow significantly in 2017.

Whiskin and Newman themselves commented: “It is exciting to be back working with the team at Hubio.  The software solutions are impressive and have developed significantly in the past 3-4 years, especially when aligned with all the successful customer implementations for the Hubio ICE Claims, ICE Policy and ICE Analytics services.  We see great potential and are excited to be part of the team and cannot wait to get started.

TR-1: NOTIFICATION OF MAJOR INTEREST IN SHARES

http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=5466047

20 December 2016 
Watchstone Group plc
 
Change of registered office address
 
Watchstone Group plc (LON:WTG) announces that it has changed its registered office, with immediate effect to Third Floor, 21 Tower Street, London, England, WC2H 9NS.

http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=5468541

General interest:

Tech Mahindra Hubio teamed up with them last year are exhibiting/sponsor at this years NRF Big Show:



Tech Mahindra Americas Inc

Booth # 625

Bronze Sponsor
Sponsor of the Tuesday Attendee Lunch

Tech Mahindra represents the new connected world, offering innovative and customer-centric IT services and solutions integrating technology with business.

Published on Jan 7, 2017

As CEO, Heather Shantora oversees all aspects of InnoCare, a Canadian healthcare market leader focused on the development of innovative healthcare technology designed to anticipate and respond to the growing needs of Canadian healthcare professionals and patients. https://innocare.ca

Can You Teach an Old Dog New Tricks?
January 9, 2017 | Software | By: Kerrie-Ann Bernard

By Heather Shantora, CEO

When healthcare professionals and their patients think of quality care, it’s likely that storing and charting patient information are among the last things on their minds. At first glance, it’s administrivia of the most basic kind. And while this formal documentation is integral to any healthcare practice, it is also laborious, time-consuming and often the invisible and under-appreciated efforts of an already stretched healthcare professional.

In an age where virtually every other industry has adopted technology to improve efficiencies and customer service, we seem to accept this administrative burden as of the price of modern healthcare. But should we? Can we teach old dogs new tricks when it comes to these tasks? We know there is a direct correlation between time spent on administrative tasks – such as managing charts and filling out paperwork – and a negative impact on patient care. Quite simply, there are only so many hours available in a day. More time spent on administration means less time available for patient needs.


We also know wait times are lengthy and seem to be increasing. Imagine being able to offer healthcare professionals even an extra hour a day to care for patients. That could translate into fitting in three more patients a day. The technology to allow our doctors to be more efficient and, therefore, treat more Canadians is available; but is our healthcare system ready for it?

The benefits to making these changes are clear. An openness to technological assistance is the gateway to easing the burden on our struggling healthcare system. Simply making it easier to capture and share patient information is an important element of alleviating our system’s chronic strains. Clinicians who embrace 21st century tools can benefit from a more satisfied patient, and facilitate higher levels of engagement between visits to the clinic, helping people achieve their healthcare goals.

Privacy concerns are often cited as a reason for a collective reluctance to go down this path. We need to ask ourselves if this a still a legitimate issue in an age when banking is almost completely automated and available to enhance the client experience without compromising privacy. Why can’t healthcare follow banking’s lead? Frankly, patients should demand this level of security, convenience, and consistency in their own healthcare purchases and experiences.

So, can you teach an old dog new tricks? If healthcare professionals are open to adopting technology as an integral part of their back-office solutions and Canadians are willing to accept a paradigm shift in how we approach our healthcare delivery strategy, then I firmly believe those old dogs will prevail in a tech-smart, patient-first healthcare system.
 
This post was originally published at What She Said.

The CV Show is the best attended, largest and the most comprehensive road transport and commercial vehicle event held in Britain, providing truck and van operators with far greater choice than any other exhibition serving this vital industry. The Show attracts close to 21,000 business visitors and its central location at the NEC Birmingham, ensures a truly nationwide attendance. For operators it is the annual meeting place and for sector suppliers the ultimate showcase for your products and services.

Hubio Fleet (Stand Number 4j130)
Website: www.hubiofleet.com

Description:
Hubio Fleet is a provider of simple, low-cost vehicle tracking designed to improve driving behaviour, lower the cost of fleet operation, increase productivity and minimise vehicle wear and tear. Our fleet management system is delivered by the teams from industry-leading telematics providers Road Angel Fleet and Hubio.

https://cvshow.com/a-to-z-exhibitor-list/?filter=H#toggle-id-13170

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19 January 2017 
Watchstone Group plc
  
Pre-close trading update 
 
Watchstone Group plc (LON:WTG) today issues a pre-close trading update ahead of its results for the year ended 31 December 2016.
 
The Board announces that for the year ended 31 December 2016 overall trading results (unaudited) are expected to be in line with expectations 1.  Underlying EBITDA for 2017 is not expected to be positive due to the need for continued investment in new products and business lines as further discussed below.
 
Group cash and deposits stood at £81.3m at 31 December 2016 2.
 
Revenue (unaudited):
 
***See Link at BOP for Table*** 

2016 saw continued significant change for the Group, with management activities focussed on the operational objectives outlined to shareholders at the beginning of 2016: to deal with the Group's losses and to establish a platform to create shareholder value from the Group's businesses.
 
The sale or closure of non-core assets and restructuring resulted in the elimination of losses of over £14m on an annualised basis. Property Services and Quintica were sold, Maine Finance and Road Angel closed and a significant restructuring of Hubio was executed.
 
ptHealth and ingenie are now both profitable and growing.
 
Building on the strategy outlined in January 2016, a plan of action was created and is being executed for each of the businesses. In 2016, we launched Hubio, Hubio Fleet, InnoCare, BAS Corporate and developed ingenie's B2B technology platform.
 
Taking each of the operating businesses in turn:
 
Healthcare services:
 
ptHealth treated a record number of patients in 2016 and conducted a record number of patient assessments up 6% vs. 2015. All clinics that were loss making in 2015 have either been sold or were profitable during 2016.
 
InnoCare launched in Q2 2016 and has since been developing momentum, including growth in the network to 167 clinics from 152 clinics. From September 2016, investment in sales and business development has resulted in a substantial growth in its sales pipeline. InnoCare Charting, a market leading software tool to help clinicians be more efficient and so treat more patients was launched in November 2016. Whilst early signs are positive, it is too early to say how quickly sales will be delivered. The required investment in the InnoCare product and associated marketing will impact its earnings for the immediate future.
 
Hubio:
 
The Hubio brand was launched in January 2016 to bring together the insurance software parts of the Group and has since become a recognised brand in its sectors. By pulling three previously separate companies together under common management, we were able to better assess our capabilities and address our opportunities and challenges.
 
As previously outlined, the development of the usage based insurance (UBI) business has been disappointing and 2016 was a year of intensive work externally to understand and to better qualify market opportunities and internally to optimise and focus resources. As a result, we start 2017 with a significantly streamlined organisation and plan to launch an updated UBI proposition by the end of Q1 2017 which will combine the best elements of Hubio and ingenie's technology, intellectual property and business process capabilities.
 
Hubio Fleet was launched in September 2016 and has made an encouraging start successfully signing up customers on multi-year contracts. Investment in sales, operations and development means the business comes into 2017 with a strong pipeline of opportunities and an expectation of profitable growth during 2017.
 
Hubio EIS, our enterprise insurance solutions business,  was restructured during 2016 resulting in this unit returning to profitability by Q3 2016. Hubio EIS's solutions continue to receive industry and customer acclaim but the key focus remains new business and to this end, the sales pipeline is now at its strongest level in its history.
 
The Hubio business in Canada is re-focussing on its Iter8 insurance software platform. An exciting partnership with Guidewire Inc was announced in November 2016 and this has already resulted in a strong uplift in opportunities. The Farm Portal, which launched in 2016, has a solid pipeline which is expected to result in at least 2 new deals in 2017.
 
As noted in the results for the six months ended 30 June 2016, in respect of Hubio the Board determined that, in line with accounting standards and the practice of peers, all internal development expenditure will be expensed rather than capitalised until profitable product and service delivery is expected to be feasible and probable. This results in approximately £1.5m of additional expense included within EBITDA on an ongoing basis.
 
While significant progress has been made in dealing with the various opportunities and challenges across the Hubio businesses, it will be 2018 before we see profits or positive cash flows. However, the Board remains confident in the underlying technologies in Hubio, the associated significant market opportunities and the ability to see growth in 2017.
 
ingenie:
 
2016 was another successful year for ingenie with a 17% year on year increase in new business sales and a 22% increase of in force policies.  Significant improvements were also achieved in customer retention during the year. The business remains profitable and is expected to grow revenue further during 2017 through new product initiatives.
 
As previously detailed, our technology has been used to create a white label proposition which can be licensed to third party brands/insurers who wish to create their own telematics based offering. ingenie is looking to find further high quality partners like ANWB for this product offering.
 
BAS:
 
In 2016, BAS launched a division targeting larger corporate opportunities in addition to its traditional SME customers. The first major corporate customer was won (providing energy procurement services for Suffolk County Council) and a further pipeline has been developed. Total new business sales were a record and up approximately 30% vs. 2015 resulting in the revenue growth seen above. 2017 will be a year to build on the foundations laid during 2016. 
 
Central overheads and cash:
 
Group cash and deposits stood at £81.3m at 31 December 2016 2. Net cash outflows during the year of £21.9m have been kept below expectations with several matters being favourably resolved. Excluding restructuring and other non-recurring items, operating businesses consumed a net £3.3m. Also excluding non-recurring items, central spend (not including movements on creditors and provisions) was £9.5m. Overall spend on restructuring and other non-recurring items including businesses sold or closed and net of receipts was £9.1m.  There remain material provisions, primarily related to taxation, which are expected to be substantially resolved and settled during 2017.
 
2017 Outlook:
 
2017 will be another year of significant development for the Group. The continued reduction of losses and cash outflow will continue and the Board remains committed to maximise shareholder value and seek returns for these businesses in the most effective way and the Board will consider disposals where appropriate.
 
ptHealth and ingenie both continue to grow profitably. BAS is now demonstrating its capacity to be profitable and cash generative. Central costs will continue to be managed carefully at reduced levels consistent with the unresolved legacy matters and the needs of the organisation. The initiatives, restructuring and new launches in Hubio will now mean it will be 2018 before we see profits or positive cash flows for both Hubio and the Group as a whole. 
 
Indro Mukerjee, Group Chief Executive Officer said:
"We have made good progress in dealing with losses and those businesses that were not viable or non-core as well as developing profitable platforms in ptHealth, ingenie and BAS. Hubio, will take longer and we have restructured the businesses in that division appropriately. Our offerings remain relevant in segments that will see substantial growth in the next few years and we are focussed on building propositions for growing markets."
 
http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=5482175

Hubio We're delighted that Hubio's Chief Operating Officer, Saleem Miyan will be joining the expert panel at TU-Automotive's UBI webinar tomorrow!(today) The experts from ptolemus, generalli and insurthebox will deliver their views on the future of connected motor insurance and tackle the topic of 'Can UBI tech form the basis for a suite of new motor insurance products?'
http://ow.ly/TnCe308lkYR

Hubio Fleet gains live traffic feature
By Natalie Middleton / 3 days ago

Hubio Fleet has added a live traffic display to the online dashboard for its tracking solution.



24/7 live tracking starts as soon as the ignition is turned on. Fleet managers can then see the location of their drivers in Google Maps as well as seeing what their drivers are seeing at any moment using Google Street View. This enables operators to quickly spot potential delays and re-direct drivers on new routes and even update their customers with a reason for a delay.

Hubio Fleet’s chief technology officer Andrew Betteley said: “We’ve added live traffic to our Live Map page as we continue to listen to feedback from fleet managers and owner/operators that are using Hubio Fleet.

“Live Traffic is overlaid onto the Live Map so that the fleet manager can see both where their vehicles are in real-time together with any congestion on the road networks at the same time.”

All journeys are recorded so that users can look back over trips to double check where drivers have been and how they have been driving.

Commenting on the new feature, Hubio Fleet customer Scott Cameron, the general manager of plumbing business McKerron & Milne Ltd which runs 12 vans, said: “The real-time tracking and live traffic information has really helped us allocate our vehicles more efficiently. Running a search enables us to quickly find the closest team to a particular location. We can check live traffic, redirect them if necessary, offering a quicker response and a greater level of service.”

Hubio Fleet is also offering a free 30-day trial of its OBD plugin tracker to businesses who run 10 or more vehicles, so they can learn how to use the dashboard and see the benefits of having the Hubio Fleet tracker fitted.

16 February 2017 
Watchstone Group plc
 
Issue of claim by Hubio Solutions Inc in respect of agreement with Aviva Canada Inc
 
Watchstone Group plc (LON:WTG) announces that its wholly owned subsidiary Hubio Solutions Inc ("Hubio Solutions"), a Canadian corporation, has issued a claim in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice against Aviva Canada Inc ("Aviva Canada") in respect of breach of contract and unpaid amounts due under an agreement entered into by the parties in October 2014 and announced on 21 October 2014 ("Agreement").
 
Aviva Canada has notified Hubio Solutions that it has issued a claim against Hubio Solutions and Ingenie (Canada) Inc (despite the fact that it was not party to the Agreement) in respect of this Agreement and otherwise.
 
Watchstone is confident in the strength of the Group's case and will defend any claim robustly. The Group is disappointed that having worked closely with Aviva Canada for many years, Aviva Canada has chosen not to fulfil its obligations under the Agreement or make the payments due as invoiced.
 
Watchstone will make further announcements in due course, as appropriate.

http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=5497342

How portal adoption can accelerate your digital strategy #ICTC2017

Agent and Broker Portals are critical components in P&C insurers’ digital strategy. As insurers work to provide an enhanced digital experience across the entire distribution management life cycle, portals are at the centre of the experience.

While almost every insurer has an agent portal in place, we are seeing a rise in modernization as they now seek to replace and upgrade first generation technology that provided only a partial solution to their needs. As noted in EY’s whitepaper entitled Beyond the Agency Portal, “Agent portals have become a hot technology in P&C insurance circles after years of relative neglect.”

At the upcoming 2017 Insurance-Canada.ca Technology Conference on February 28th, Hubio’s Phil Henville, the Head of Canadian Operations, will speak on the topic in “What Lessons Can Broker-Based Insurers Draw From Direct Carriers?”. One of the key lessons pertains to the direct writer’s creation of a superior digital experience, anchored by a portal that responds to the needs of brokers, policyholders, and potential new customers.

What lessons can we learn from direct carriers?

In the North American market, independent agents and brokers have seen their market share steadily decrease over the past 20+ years as direct writers have invested heavily in their digital presence, and grown their market share.  Phil will expand on what are they doing right, and how insurers with an independent  broker or agent distribution channel can use technology to compete. He will explore how direct writers have created effective business processes that engage prospects, provide policyholders superior service, and offer the right policies to the right people at the right time and price.

Improve your digital experience

Digital insurance leaders are providing the broker channel with choices that fit with how producers, and CSR’s want to interact with them. This includes technology to handle uploads and downloads from their systems; the creation of staging and viewing areas for review and edit; and a user interface that is user-friendly, easily processed, refined and enhanced.

Our team will be exhibiting at the conference, ready to learn and discuss the importance of new portal technology. Come stop by and discover how Hubio is developing the next generation solution to deliver speed, integration, and an easy-to-use solution.

More than 70% of insurers are replacing or upgrading their portals in order to improve the ease of doing business for an agent [1] – stay ahead, speak to Hubio.