We are very proud of our company’s heritage and traditional values that permeate throughout our ethos and culture. To celebrate another year in business in what has been an unprecedented time, we wanted to share how TFG – The Forshaw Group has ridden the tides of change over the last 72 years in business.
How it all began
The Forshaw Group was founded by Les Forshaw, who started as a painter and decorator after WWII, helping the post-war regeneration of the bombed city of Liverpool. By 1948 Les Forshaw had established himself as a sole trader, servicing the need for high quality and reliable painting and decorating services for the historic Higson’s Breweries, and refurbishing many of Liverpool’s iconic pubs. He also had the honour of painting the famous Beatles’ Yellow Submarine 51ft long model for the 1984 Liverpool International Garden Festival, which now proudly resides in Liverpool John Lennon Airport.
The quality of work across all aspects of traditional painting and decorating saw Les Forshaw being awarded the Leyland Paints ‘Contractor of the Year’ in 1988. Les Forshaw sadly passed away in 1989, and was succeeded by his son Richard Forshaw, who carried on the family tradition of quality and reliability.
A new beginning
The social changes of the 1980’s brought the need for a broader client base. By the mid 1980’s we were a key maintenance contractor for the decoration, repair, maintenance and refurbishment of many churches and vicarages in and around Liverpool. We also secured a long-term contract with the Girls Public Day School Trust (GPDST), providing emergency cover, repairs and maintenance to several listed school buildings.
In 1995 Liam Hanlon joined Richard Forshaw in the business, bringing new purpose, direction and opportunity.
The success of the insurance repair market created steady, sustainable growth that saw the transition from Les Forshaw Painting & Decorating Services as a sole trader to the Les Forshaw Contracts Partnership. As the team grew, we recognised the strength of our traditional values and investment in our people and have been an ‘Investors in People’ recognised company since 2000.
With growth came the opportunity to increase our offering to the insurance repair market over a wider geographical area, and so Les Forshaw Ltd was established in 2003.
Jay Calvert joined the company in 2004 as a trainee surveyor, and the business continued to grow.
We established offices in North Wales and the North West, as a leading Insurance Repair Specialist company. These five regional offices saw our rebrand in 2008 as The Forshaw Group Ltd to unify our image.
Our Forshaw Restoration division was established in 2009, and we made the finals of the North West Construction Awards in 2009 and again in 2010.
In response to new insurance industry claim handling requirements, the Forshaw Group Ltd now offers a completely transparent and auditable end-to-end claim management process.
The changes in the insurance market and banking industry during 2010 produced a need for more direct partnerships with insurers, and we launched The Forshaw Group Broker Alliance in 2011. This provides a strong, proven, capable, responsive, and committed proposition for all domestic, commercial, industrial, and residential insurance-related building repairs.
With increased work volume, staff numbers and tradesmen came a requirement for more detailed, auditable, and transparent management process and procedures. The Forshaw Group Ltd was awarded ISO 9001-2008 accreditation in 2011.
A new chapter
Richard Forshaw mentored the business towards a new chapter and an ambitious exit strategy, and in 2013 Liam Hanlon and Jay Calvert, as joint managing directors of the Forshaw Group Ltd, acquired equal shares in the company.
In 2018, with continued year-on-year growth and increased geographical coverage, The Forshaw Group Ltd relocated to Knowsley Industrial Park, as a more central base to cover all client requirements and areas of reach more efficiently.
A royal occasion
On 16th October two years ago, we were extremely honoured and privileged to be joined by HRH The Princess Royal, to celebrate our 70th Anniversary. Everyone in attendance was part of our wonderful history that has helped us create The Forshaw Group family.
Putting people first – supporting our customers and community throughout Covid-19
Today, with 72 years in business, TFG – The Forshaw Group looks towards a new future. Following almost five months of unprecedented social disruption, and the evolving progress of lockdown and social distancing government guidelines, we were proud to have supported front-line emergency and essential works during the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic, as our video below shows:
The ‘new normal’
Our director Liam Hanlon shared our approach to complying with the ‘new normal’ in a previous blog post. Since the easing of the lockdown we have continued to provide a full emergency, urgent and essential works service, and we are pleased to have returned to our pre-COVID-19 operational model and are now functioning at full capacity.
We are taking the learnings from this challenging and testing time to progress with a better understanding of our customer requirements and adding positive value to their experience within vulnerable sectors.
We are also committed to ensuring the continued safety for our staff and customers in this difficult situation. We are all supporting the ‘new normal’ with all the necessary PPE and social distancing safety precautions for the well-being of our business, industry and community.
A brighter future on the horizon
With 72 years in business behind us, we look forward to continuing to deliver a first-class service to help our customers, and working closer as a business towards the mutual benefit of all stakeholders involved in the claim journey, to emerge from this crisis together stronger and in better shape for a more positive future.
