A Week In The Life of a Richfords FlexiTech

What Is A FlexiTech?

A FlexiTech is a member if Richfords production team that works on a flexible basis for the company. Each FlexiTech is an important member of the Richfords team and as such is provided with full training in the work that Richfords carries out.

 

The post suits people who want to carry out practical work helping home and business owners recover their property following incidents such as fires, floods and other types of damage causing incidents.

 

The working hours can vary between very busy periods where the FlexiTechs 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 FlexiTech role suits people with a second income such as a pension or other part time work and therefore aren’t reliant on the restoration work for their sole income.

Listen to our Podcast to hear more about being a FlexiTech at Richfords

 

 

 

 

 

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Below we follow a week in the life of John. John is a retired policeman and is able to collect his service pension. However as he is only 55 he was keen to continue working, doing a job that is really worth, while and helps people.

Working as a FlexiTech at Richfords means that John is able to work in a role making a real difference to people’s lives, supplement his income and have the flexibility to not work all of the time.

 

Friday Afternoon

John gets a call on Friday afternoon to ask if he is available to work the following Monday. An elderly couple have suffered a burst pipe in the loft in causing damage throughout their home in Helston. A Richfords team are on site and have carried out the damage limitation work, such as removing wet carpets. However they could use John’s help on Monday to install the drying equipment and to pack up the contents for transport back to Richfords headquarters for restoration.

John doesn’t have any plans for Monday and is happy to work for the day.

Monday

8am - John arrives at the Richfords depot and collects a visit sheet, which gives him details of the work to be carried out and the location of the property. He collects the additional dehumidifiers and specialist drying equipment needed for the day and loads it onto a Richfords response vehicle, before leaving for Helston.

John arrives on site and after discussing what work will be done with the Richfords BDMA Technician who is already at the property, he begins work. This includes removing a damaged ceiling, bagging up debris, installing drying equipment and carefully packing up the damaged contents.

 

5pm - After a full days work John drives back to the depot, empties the debris from the vehicle, unloads the boxes of contents and signs them in with the in plant team and replenishes the equipment used from the vehicle so it is ready to be used again the next day.

John says “Working as a FlexiTech is great. I get to do valuable work helping people recover from all types of incidents and I still maintain the flexibility to not have to work all of he time.”

Tuesday

Today there is no work for John at Richfords.  John spends the day working on the motorcycle he is restoring in his garage, something he never had time to do when working full time.

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

Wednesday

John spends the day working on the fire clean up at the property in St Austell with two other FlexiTechs. This work involves vacuuming soot, cleaning ceilings with dry sponges, cleaning fire residues from walls and fixtures and installing air scrubbers to improve air quality.

John 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

7am - John has an early start and meets one of Richfords full time technicians at the Richfords Depot in Camborne. They drive up to the property in Wiltshire where they meet two more FlexiTechs from Richfords M5 depot. The team spend the day carrying out damage limitation work such as cleaning uPVC window frames, which can be stained by fire residues. They also improve air quality by installing air scrubbing equipment. After a full day they drive to the local bed and breakfast, Richfords has booked for them, and enjoy a relaxing evening having dinner as team in a local pub.

Friday

After another day working on the fire damaged property the team complete the restoration and drive home.  After unloading the debris and equipment from the van and giving is a wash, John pops in to see the Richfords claims team, to catch up and see if he is needed next week.

There is a training session on Tuesday but no other work for him at the moment, so he can go home in the knowledge that they can enjoy a few days off.

John comments ‘Being a FlexiTech gives me great flexibility. With my pension income I don’t necessarily need to work, but it is  great to do this valuable work and the extra income means we can do all the things we want with our spare time. Working flexibly allows me to take holidays on the bike when we like, so my wife and I often take advantage of last minute deals. The quiet periods in the summer means we sometimes 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.

 

If you would like to know more about working at Richfords as a FlexiTech or would like to apply of a position download our application form.