At approximately 4pm on Wednesday January 9 a serious fire broke out at our head office on Mark Road in Hemel Hempstead. All staff were evacuated safely with no casualties.
While the building suffered extensive damage, TDS’ business continuity plan was successfully implemented.
The Mark Road site housed 89 members of staff including management, finance, IT and customer service teams for both our Insured and Custodial schemes. 19 adjudicators are based off-site.
As part of the continuity plan, staff worked from sites around Hemel Hempstead in the days following the fire. This week (beginning Monday 14 January), the majority of staff are working from an interim office space nearby, with others working from home. Longer-term solutions are being actively reviewed.
All deposits are protected, data is safe, and the TDS websites have remained fully functional throughout.
New deposits have been registered and the adjudication process has continued without interruption. There may be a minor delay in printed material being sent to customers, but this will be minimal.
Steve Harriott, Chief Executive of TDS, said: “It’s a credit to staff and the processes we have in place that this serious situation has in no way affected our operational ability to protect deposits. In fact, less that 24 hours after the building was evacuated, our average call response times were already back to our industry-beating levels at 28 seconds.
“I’d like to thank our staff for the calm and professional way they reacted to the situation, the exceptional work of the Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service and the wider industry, partners and stakeholders for the messages of support we’ve received.”
Customers can continue to use TDS’s services as usual and the contact phone number for enquiries remains unchanged: 0300 037 1000.