Intelligent Office: Meet… Marcella Rich

Marcella Rich is the newest member of the Intelligent Office leadership team and joined the business in a newly created role during a significant time of expansion for the Intelligent Services Centres (ISC). With big plans in place for the ISC, here Marcella tells us about her key role in the growth strategy, what’s in store for the future of the ISC, and lessons learned from a distinguished career.

What is your role at Intelligent Office and what experience do you bring to this position?

I joined Intelligent Office in January 2022 as Managing Director of the Intelligent Services Centres and a member of the Leadership Team. The ISC delivers a variety of outsourced services to our clients such as virtual PAs, document production, legal admin and finance admin, and my role is to support continued innovation and sustainable growth for these services and the wider Intelligent Office business.

Prior to joining IO, I worked within the financial services sector for over 30 years, primarily in outsourcing businesses, in positions such as COO, Managing Director and Client Director. There are many similarities between the financial and legal sectors, including having multiple stakeholders with differing requirements, and my experience of delivering complex, regulated services across multiple locations, using both process excellence and innovative technology to do so will be beneficial when continuing the growth journey that the ISC, and IO in general, are on.

What is an Intelligent Services centre and how do they work?

Intelligent Office has three UK based ISO27001 accredited shared services centres, known as our Intelligent Services Centres, or ISC. The ISC offer services that can be delivered remotely, including all types of document production work, client and matter inception, invoicing, and creation of electronic matters and physical files. We also offer switchboard services, using experienced call centre agents. Our teams at the ISC work as either a dedicated client resource, or offer flexible support to a number of clients, fitting around varying work volumes. They work with absolute accuracy to complete tasks to a high standard and ensure 100% customer satisfaction, enabling ease of business for our clients and their customers. Our ISC services offer a transactional pricing model as well as a fixed fee, giving firms a huge amount of flexibility as well as, in many cases, significant savings.

What are the future plans for the ISC?

It’s an exciting time in the market, as more firms look to take advantage of flexible remote support, and we are seeing an increased demand for our services. I don’t see this demand slowing any time soon and anticipate that we will continue to work closely with new and existing clients to utilise emerging sector technologies and process innovation, which in turn will deliver exceptional service to their customers. We will continue to invest in our people and new technologies, as well as leveraging our industry expertise and position as market-leader to grow our services and ensure we’re the provider of choice for all firms looking to outsource.

How do you manage demand and different client requirements?

We currently have a portfolio of over 40 clients from law firms to private equity and professional services firms, each with fluctuating work volumes, and the flexibility of the ISC model enables us to manage multi-skilled resource across our sites. Each client has an account director who works closely with them and our teams to ensure our services are delivered to a high standard and in line with our contractual agreements.

What three words would you use to sum up Intelligent Office?

Exciting, passionate, and knowledgeable!

What are your rules for great client service?

I believe you should listen, to understand their requirements, work in partnership with absolute transparency, and not be afraid to have difficult conversations.

Describe your ideal client

A business or individual who is prepared to work in true partnership.

What is the first thing you do every day?

Wait for my morning latte from my husband! I try and follow that up with either a run, spin, or swim but it has to be said that the latte is the most important thing for me!

Who or what has had the most influence on you and why?

When I was early on in my career, I was fortunate enough to have a great manager who taught me the importance of taking time to understand the detail and of making time for people across the organisation. This has stood me in good stead when working in a regulatory environment and when growing a business, but has also shaped my own management style and how I interact with my teams.

If you were starting your career now, what advice would you give yourself?

Always back yourself, it is important to take yourself seriously, but also ensure you have fun along the way.