New Management

New Management

As the original director of the company I will be moving on to pastures new to work within the police service effective 20th April 2020 and I want to take a quick second to thank all of you who have used and supported my company over the years – and essentially made it what it is today; the most highly acclaimed investigatory support service in the region. Read more about New Management

Employee Concerns: A Case Study

Employee Concerns: A Case Study

We met our Newcastle-based client as part of the free consultation service we offer to everyone. They explained that they felt they were being defrauded by one of their staff who had been off for 5 months with an injury they’d claimed they sustained at work.

The staff member (let’s call him ‘Keith’) was in the process of taking legal action against their employer and claimed that they could no longer walk around without sticks for support.

‘Keith’ was receiving full sick pay from our client who were in turn being fully cooperative with all litigation they were having levied against them – but rumours had started to circulate that there was nothing wrong with ‘Keith’ and he was actually working in another job, “cash in hand” in Gateshead. Read more about Employee Concerns: A Case Study

TRACE ENQUIRIES – A CLOSER LOOK

TRACE ENQUIRIES – A CLOSER LOOK

We offer a variety of different support services to solicitors and law firms throughout Newcastle, Tyne and Wear and the rest of the North East. The two that we are most prolifically engaged for service on is our process serving and our various types of people tracing.

We offer two types of tracing service: Electronic and Agent-Led. An agent-led trace is more extensive than the electronic trace we carry out, although the latter IS the most common we’re asked to do. Read more about TRACE ENQUIRIES – A CLOSER LOOK

INVESTIGATING FRAUDULENT SICKNESS

INVESTIGATING FRAUDULENT SICKNESS

surveillance photographerIt is important for us within our line of work – when investigating issues surrounding employee absence and staff sickness around Newcastle and the whole of the North East – to be very clear about where we stand as a company professionally, ethically and legally in the face of ‘cowboys’ offering to “deal with” those “staff members off sick that are costing you money”.

Should “long term sickness” be placed into the hands of professional investigation services? No.

Do Surmount Investigations take on investigations into an employee’s “long term sickness”? To put it bluntly, no.

We investigate employees on behalf of their employers for a multitude of reasons (potential criminal conduct, harassment, unsafe practice, behaviour threatening to the company reputation, etc.) and that can include FRAUDULENT sickness. Read more about INVESTIGATING FRAUDULENT SICKNESS

ACTING LAWFULLY IN PRIVATE INVESTIGATIONS

ACTING LAWFULLY IN PRIVATE INVESTIGATIONS

The media and pop culture in general play up the archetype of our profession as being the type that skulks in the shadows, doing all sorts of illegalities in order to acquire evidence against someone or some company.

It really isn’t like that at all.

We continually promote ourselves to law firms, insurers, businesses and private clients around Newcastle and North East as being an investigation and security consultancy service driven with the desire to help people whilst maintaining ethics and integrity in how we conduct our services that, rather sadly, many assume our industry doesn’t possess.

 

As we tell clients all the time, “There’s no point in us acquiring evidence for you illegally because you can’t do anything with it legally once we hand it to you so what’s the point in paying for it?” Read more about ACTING LAWFULLY IN PRIVATE INVESTIGATIONS

Investigating Concerns In The #MeToo / #TimesUp Era

Investigating Concerns In The #MeToo / #TimesUp Era

In our field of work we take formal victim and witness statements to a high evidential standard for a wealth of different reasons – sometimes they relate to internal employee investigations, sometimes they are to do with road traffic collisions to name but two.

On this particular investigation we were brought in by a high profile national company who had offices in the North East and who wanted one of their employees interviewed and the legitimacy of her claims explored.

More and more in the age we live in, companies and employers need to fully embrace the weight and responsibility to their employees born from the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements – taking seriously ALL allegations of harassment and abuse of power. But more importantly doing so sensitively and, where possible, independently. Read more about Investigating Concerns In The #MeToo / #TimesUp Era

Top Five Reasons Solicitors Use Surmount Investigations

Top Five Reasons Solicitors Use Surmount Investigations

We are proud to have grown into what is one of the most highly regarded litigation support services throughout the North East and we continue to be the preferred choice of some of the region’s most prestigious law firms for supporting their solicitors with cases.

In a competitive market place, we ensure that we deliver a service that is a cut-above what solicitors and other professionals in the legal sector usually expect from their investigative support. That’s because we’ve taken the time to work with our clients in this field to discuss what they like, what they need and what hasn’t worked for them in the past.

With this edition of our blog – having polled information from our solicitor clients – we’re able to put together the top five reasons why we’re regarded to the level we are and why we continue to acquire the return custom we do. Read more about Top Five Reasons Solicitors Use Surmount Investigations

When The Client Is Wrong And The ‘Bad’ Guy Is Good: A Case Study

When The Client Is Wrong And The ‘Bad’ Guy Is Good: A Case Study

A lot of companies in our field – heck, a lot of companies full stop – use the ‘case studies’ space on their professional blog to tell big, detailed stories about how they achieved a fantastic result for their client, confirmed all their worst suspicions and caught the ‘bad buy’ or whatever. God knows, there’s a fair enough amount of those very types of case studies in our own archives. Scroll through and take a look.

But what about a study that highlights some good old-fashioned fact-chasing, professionalism and a mask-pull twist ending where the ‘bad guy’ wasn’t bad and the client was wrong all along? There’s not enough of those case studies out there and maybe it’s because no one is wanting to spotlight the times when (*whispers it carefully*) the client calls it wrong. Read more about When The Client Is Wrong And The ‘Bad’ Guy Is Good: A Case Study

Guidance Around Covert Recordings In The Work Place.

Guidance Around Covert Recordings In The Work Place.

We are asked frequently – especially within the realms of the commercial investigations we complete against rogue employees – about recording people covertly. We are always keen to encourage employers and employees alike to err on the side of extreme caution around this.

For an employer to do so it would be a misstep that could yield massive negative consequences upon them and lead to employment tribunal action against them.

For an employee to do it could result in them being disciplined/dismissed for gross misconduct IF the matter is attended to and policies around this are in effect within the company. Read more about Guidance Around Covert Recordings In The Work Place.

How To Achieve A Higher Standard In Statement Taking

How To Achieve A Higher Standard In Statement Taking

We’re going to repost our guidance around statement-taking again on the blog this month because once more we’re left completely aghast at the standard of evidence-capturing through statements and interviews that we’re experiencing and having to redo on behalf of our solicitor clients or commercial clients.

In most of the incidents we’ve been called in on over the last three months alone, its because our clients have been presented with interview transcripts or statements obtained that are woefully below the evidential standard needed to see through a clean and just result. And the most maddening thing is that the interviewers and statement-takers are often HR professionals or retired police officers. Read more about How To Achieve A Higher Standard In Statement Taking