Still not sure: Have a look at a few of the references provided by existing clients and see if that helps…
SM – London Borough of Lewisham
We began using SCB in September 2002 to produce minutes of governing body meetings from an audio tape for a member of staff who has a repetitive strain injury, and were so impressed that we have used their services continuously ever since.
The quality of work is outstanding. It is unfailingly accurate, beautifully presented and produced to deadlines, some extremely tight.
In addition to minutes, we have also asked SCB to type up forms, questionnaires and a range of booklets, which again are always produced to the same high standard.
Previously we used agency staff for this purpose on an ad hoc basis. This was never particularly satisfactory as the quality of their work and the speed at which they worked varied enormously. If the work was needed urgently we had to pay agency staff for a whole day and find other jobs for them to do.
Our arrangement with SCB is far more cost effective. They work at an extremely high speed and charge a very reasonable hourly rate. The quality of work is of a far higher standard than the best agency staff that we have encountered, and is produced in approximately half the time or less. In our view, SCB provides outstanding value for money.
I commend them warmly to you.
JdH – Grants Administrator
SCB has has been providing a weekly audio typing service for me I was new to dictation when I started to send through to SCB, needing to use such a service due to arthritis in my hands.
I have found the service that SCB provides completely reliable and accurate. Their turn around of typing is fully responsive to the timetable I request – which can be unpredictable at times – and I am completely satisfied with the service that they provide.
CB - Barrister
I am a practising barrister of over 30 years call and I have made use of the services from SCB for some time since I first came across them being used in a complex murder case for one of my large firms of solicitors. They carry out work on Advices, and some pleadings for me and regularly for a Queens Counsel associated with my chambers.
In essence, the work carried out requires skill and precision. We send it electronically, but they are always willing to discuss issues verbally. All the work has been carried out meticulously, and there is the added assistance that it is carried out with good humour, to precise deadlines and they have helped on several occasions when we have been under pressure with work being carried out at awful times of the day and night (by arrangement of course).
I have absolutely no reservation in commending their services.
RS – Chartered Surveyor and Company Director
I have been using SCB Secretarial Services since January 2000. As a Chartered Surveyor and Company Director I have, at times, the need to turn round quantities of correspondence and found it was taking more time than I was willing to spend on administration to produce this myself. The quantity of work I had, however, was not sufficient to warrant the employment of a secretary.
I have found my arrangement with SCB to be ideal in that I can call on their services whenever I need them, and whether it is only a day since my last request, or several weeks, the work is done to a high standard, and turned round very quickly, even overnight when necessary.
After some time working with analog tapes which I would drop round to SCB or they would collect, I invested in a digital dictation machine, which increased again the flexibility by which I could work, as I could dictate as little as one letter and e-mail the sound file, which would then be turned round at the usual speed, but SCB would invoice me at the end of the month for the cumulative amount of time expended.
In addition to typing routine correspondence, more recently SCB has taken on a telephone answering and message service on my behalf for a management company with whom I am working, and I have found this arrangement to be very satisfactory as my client company has the benefit of a personal and human contact on the phone, without my needing to be disturbed in the middle of other work as SCB pass on messages to me via e-mail or text.
DW, Barrister
I have used SCB for a number of years now, initially in my capacity as a senior solicitor for a large local authority and later in my capacity as a Barrister in a large London Chambers.
Being a member of the legal profession there are a number of important factors that are essential when contracting out secretarial support work. These include efficiency, accuracy and confidentiality. To my mind SCB excels at all of these.
On many occasions SCB has been willing to work outside office hours and at weekends when they knew that particular pieces of work were needed as a matter of urgency for court hearings. You simply can’t put a price on this level of commitment but if you could I have no doubt that it would be less than SCB charges!