It’s that time of year again when we take stock of what has happened over the past 12 months, and what a busy old year it has been here at Finders International!
The case work continues apace. In 2022, we traced 11,000 heirs to estates, located in 67 countries. They included the beneficiaries to the estate of Richard Ticehurst, who died in February of this year and who had no known next of kin.
The local authority where Richard lived asked us if we could find his relatives, so that funeral arrangements could be made. We quickly realised that Richard had been an only child, who had never married nor had children. His mother had been an only child too, so our research focused on his father’s side, and we traced 31 relatives across five countries and three continents – some of whom had never heard of their distant relative.
Richard’s estate was worth £250,000 – a welcome windfall for those we found.
Public sector and pro bono work
We’ve assisted with 1461 Public Sector cases over the last 12 months, 737 of which we’re pro bono. That’s nearly half the total amount.
Accreditations and awards
Accreditations and awards are two ways we use to reassure members of the public and the professional bodies we work with that we are serious about probate genealogy and committed to our work.
This year, we were delighted to be recognised yet again at the British Wills and Probate Awards in October, where we won Best Use of Marketing and Social Media and were highly commended in the Probate Research Firm of the Year category.
In addition, at the UK Probate Research Awards in April 2022, we picked up no less than five awards – Best UK Probate Research Firm, Best Probate Research Paralegal and Best Human Interest Story, Highly Commended for Best International Probate Researcher and Best Community Contribution.
We are also now corporate members of Best Foundation, accredited will writers, estate planners and probate practitioners. Members need to comply with a rigorous Code of Conduct and demonstrate that they have the appropriate qualifications and experience in their field.
Company Growth
In 2022 we have had 27 new members of staff join the Finders family! As well as it being our 25th year, we also have some HUGE staff anniversaries this year:
20 years
James Empson – Senior General Manager
Simonne Llewellyn – Deputy Manager Director
10 years
Emma Bell – Senior Case Manager
Emma Johannesson – Senior Manager (Scotland)
Amy Cox – Senior Case Manager
Katie Watson – Public Sector Manager
5 Years
Simanatak Saha – Web Developer
Focus on tech and cyber security
Keeping up to date with technology and ensuring our data protection processes are robust is a key part of our work. Our IT team protected Finders’ staff from 8,000 viruses and spam emails and our IT manager gave the first IT cyber/tech talk for a webinar on bereavement.
We are also now certified for the most recent version of the Government-backed Cyber Essentials.
CSR strategy
Corporate social responsibility is another important element of Finders International’s working ethos and this year, our staff wanted to help with the ongoing situation in Ukraine. Staff members donated £870, which we match-funded, raising £1,740 in total.
We have also continued to support our chosen charity for 2022, Keep Britain tidy, and organised two litter-picks in the local area to our offices in London. We have also encouraged staff working from home to take part in their local park to help pledge as many bags of rubbish and recycling to the campaign. In total, we have pledged 22 bags and will continue to support the initiative in 2023.
A word from our MD
Danny Curran, Finders International’s MD says: “At the end of every year, I think to myself that we can’t get any busier and yet we do! I’m enormously grateful to the team here for their hard work over the past 12 months and look forward to continuing the same in 2023.”