A Week In The Life of a Richfords Dynamic Duo

What Is A Dynamic Duo?

A Dynamic Duo is a team of two people that work on a flexible basis for Richfords. The Duo’s have applied for the position as a pair and so have chosen to work together. These people are often husband and wife, close friends or family. The post suits people who want to carry out practical work helping people recover their home or business following incidents such as a fire or a flood. The working hours can vary between very busy periods where the Duo’s can be working full time hours for several weeks, to quiet periods in the summer where there may not be work for a few weeks in a row. Due to this the Duo role suits people with a second income such as a military pension, self employment or other part time work and therefore aren’t reliant on the Duo work for their sole income.

Here we follow our Duo Frank and Samantha. Frank is a retired policeman with a pension, and Samantha does volunteer work for a local charity in her spare time. This gives them the flexibility to work for Richfords as a Dynamic Duo without relying on it for their only income.

 

Friday Night

Frank & Samantha get a call on Friday evening to ask if they are available to work the following Monday at a flood that has just occurred in Helston. They did not have any plans for Monday and are happy to work for the day.

Monday

8am – They arrive at the Richfords depot and collect their job sheet, which gives them the details of the work to be carried out and the location of the property. They collect any additional equipment they may need for the day and load up their rapid response Richfords vehicle before leaving to drive to Helston.

Frank & Samantha arrive on site, and after discussing what work will be done with the Richfords BDMA Technician who is already at the property, they begin work. This includes removing wet carpet, damaged ceilings, bagging up debris and installing drying equipment.

After a full days work they drive back to the depot, empty the debris from the vehicle and replace any equipment used so the vehicle is ready to be used again the next day.

Frank says ‘Even though we are not full time staff we have really been made to feel we are part of the Richfords team. They have given us fantastic training and it is good to be able to work towards becoming a fully qualified British Damage Management Association (BDMA) Technician. I also like the social scene the company has, they often arrange company outings or charity events such as bowling or kayaking.’

Tuesday

Today there is no work for them at Richfords. This allows Samantha to carry out some volunteer work, and Frank spends the day working on the motorcycle he is restoring in his garage.

Late in the afternoon Frank receives a call from Richfords. Two fire jobs have come in, one in Cornwall and another in Wiltshire. They arrange to work tomorrow in Cornwall and then drive up to Wiltshire on Thursday morning to work there for the following two days.

Wednesday

Frank and Samantha spend the day working on the fire clean up at the property in St Austell. This involves vacuuming soot, cleaning ceilings with dry sponges, cleaning fire residues from walls and fixtures and installing air scrubbers to improve air quality. Frank says ‘Working on a fire damaged property is very rewarding. At first the damage and contamination is very heavy, but you soon start to see results. You have to work very carefully, paying a great deal of attention to detail which I enjoy as I am a bit of a perfectionist! It is wonderful at the end of the job to see the property restored to a pre-incident condition, people’s treasured items restored and the smell of the smoke gone.’

Thursday

Frank and Samantha have an early start and drive up to the property in Wiltshire. They spend the day doing similar fire damage restoration and after a long day they drive to the local bed and breakfast Richfords has booked for them and enjoy a relaxing evening having dinner in a local pub.

Friday

After another day working on the fire damaged property they drive home to Cornwall. After unloading the debris and equipment from the van they complete their paperwork and find out if they are needed to work on Monday. There is no work for them at the moment, so they go home in the knowledge that they can enjoy a few days off. Samantha comments ‘Being a Dynamic Duo gives us flexibility. With Franks pension we don’t necessarily need to work, but it is always nice to have extra income that we can put towards holidays. Working flexibly allows us to take holidays when we like, so we often take advantage of last minute deals. The quiet periods in the summer mean we often don’t work for a few weeks at a time, but this allows me to look after the grandchildren during the school holidays, which helps my daughter save on childcare costs. It is great to be able to work with someone you have chosen to work with, and working with Frank has brought us together more as a team – not something we expected after being married for 20 years.’