D&G: Putting People First

When some people think about Brighton, the architectural grandeur of the Royal Pavilion, the beach, or a piece of Brighton Rock might spring to mind. When Domestic & General (D&G) do, they think about their amazing people. Each and every one of them.

As the UK’s leading warranty specialist, D&G is known for taking care of their customers. We know them for taking care of their people too. They’ve recently invested £1.4 million into their Contact Centre in Brighton. Just a stone’s throw from the beach, you’ll find new training facilities, a brand new Beach Café social space, a lighter and brighter working environment, and space to grow. It’s created a professional, vibrant and modern working environment that embraces the personality of the local area and the whole team – all 800 of them.

As one of the city’s largest private sector employers, D&G’s investment isn’t purely cosmetic.

Putting people first

D&G put people first, not just customers. They know that in order for their people to make customers feels great, they need to feel great too. It sounds simple enough, but a lot goes into creating a happy and successful team. It goes beyond the usual ethos and culture, it’s also based on initiatives to give drive, focus and practical solutions to help not only engage their people, but make them excited to come to work.

Two initiatives which have made significant improvements in the D&G family have reached the Brighton office: “Exchange” and “Ignite”. These two initiatives are aimed at ensuring issues that matter to our front-line teams are clearly heard, and that the actions, decisions and updates about what matters to the business are clearly communicated.

When people are completely confident about what they are doing and why, they can do it even better – that’s why training is tailored so that everyone gets the most out of it. In fact, what each individual wants to achieve is paramount, whether it’s to become the next Head of Communications or to exceed their targets next week. The career progression at D&G matches your ambitions. Nothing is out of reach if you’re willing to put the effort in. It’s up to you to decide what you want to go for, and everyone around you will support you along the way. The solutions are achievable, and the encouragement is genuine.

Finding the right balance

People work hard, but that’s not all they do so it’s important that work, works for everyone too. That’s why D&G are in the process of rolling out more flexibility with shift patterns, full and part time opportunities so that everyone can find the right work/life balance.

Life and work

The people at D&G are proud to be part of the Brighton community. They make sure that they support local events, initiatives and charities. In fact, they’re one of the sponsors of Brighton Pride this summer. The office’s newly formed LGBTQ+ group – Pride@Work – will also deliver together on-site events in the run-up to Pride. As an organisation, D&G feel it’s important to understand how diversity plays such an integral role here and demonstrate how colleagues can be supported.

Pride@Work has a 70-strong membership and are heavily involved with the design and creation D&G’s inaugural Brighton Pride float which will have 100 people from the Brighton team accompanying it. On top of that, they’re also planning events such as a well-being panel, pub quizzes and even a secret cinema.

That’s not all.

The Martlets Hospice is D&G’s local charity of the year in Brighton. Most recently the office held a fundraiser and raised £14,000. Everyone gets in the spirit of the events, from bake sales and xmas fayres, to sponsoring firework displays and superheroes flying over inflatable obstacles. For over a decade, they’ve also been raising money for Sport Relief and on average, 100 employees contribute to the nationwide fundraising every year.

“By investing in the local community, we hope to create value, instil pride and give back to our customers, our people and to our city.”  

To find out more about joining the D&G team, check out their current vacancies at careers.domesticandgeneral.com