Insurers return to the regions

The drum banged hardest by insurers all year has been that they are moving underwriters closer to brokers. Axa unveiled its strategy for doing so following the appointment of Amanda Blanc as chief executive for commercial in February since when the insurer has also opened two new offices.

In November Aviva, which claims to have the largest footprint in the broker market with 29 branches, also revamped its offering. While not opening new offices, it now has six regions instead of five, each with