Bigger and better.

- Insurance Age staff
- 05 Dec 2000
- Indicative reading time: 3 minutes

Alfred Blackmore was once a small, old fashioned and underperforming firm. Tim Collison finds out how it was transformed into one of the leading brokers in the UK.

Alfred Blackmore quite definitely fits the category Broking
Success.

In terms of revenue, it is about the 40th largest broker in the UK and
last year it commanded a brokerage of #14m and boasted profits of
#3.27m.

It has over 200 staff and a network of regional offices.

However, it was a very different picture a little over 20 years ago.

"It had 68 staff, brokerage income of about #500,000 and it was losing
about #100,000 a year," explains John Northridge, chairman and chief
executive of Alfred Blackmore.

In 1978, while working at Alexander Howden (now part of Aon), Mr
Northridge was approached by Alfred Blackmore employee Peter Dredge with a
view to taking over the business. "At the time I was doing business with
Alfred Blackmore in the professional risks area," explains Mr Northridge.
"Peter and myself were on a business trip to Rotterdam and we were
fog-bound and couldn't leave the airport. So, we had dinner and he told me
that the business was not doing very well but it had a good client base.
And we discussed approaching the Blackmore family about buying them out."
Within just a few weeks, the family agreed to the sale and the deal went
through.

Mr Dredge became deputy chairman and Edward Holroyd, a business contact of
Mr Dredge's from the construction industry, came on board as finance
director.

Under the terms of the deal, the management team were forced to keep all
the staff for a minimum of five years. Therefore, they had to look for
ways other than redundancies to cut costs. "Once we'd reduced office space
and reduced the overheads with the family leaving the company - they were
taking significant amounts of money out of the company - we just about
broke even. However, the culture of the company had to be changed.

It was very old fashioned; the chairman had been called sir by everybody
and people could only speak to him if he spoke to them first."

An open culture between staff and management was created, and Mr
Northridge set about building up the broker's core books of business and
creating the company structure that exists today.

The London office of Alfred Blackmore primarily deals with London market
reinsurance business, bloodstock, construction, marine, kidnap and ransom,
classic car, and large professional risks. Mr Northridge says the company
has built up the professional risks account over the last 20 years and is
now one of the largest in the UK. "We have also developed other
specialities," he says. "For example, three years ago we set up a
bloodstock team and we are now in the top four of that market."

Foreign bodies

Another niche it created was expatriate motor business. Seven years ago
the broker bought the business of Durham Hadley Cannon, which specialised
in overseas motor. This book now represents a very respectable #8m in
premium income. Alfred Blackmore now has agents all round the world
servicing the overseas motor account, and the Foreign Office provides
details of the ex-pat policy in the pack it gives to all civil servants
working abroad.

Outside of its London activities, Alfred Blackmore has a thriving regional
business, with offices in Spalding, Bristol, Edinburgh, and Newcastle.

"Alfred Blackmore UK accounts for a third of the group's revenue and it
has two core areas: professional risks - although they tend to be the
smaller business - and commercial and industrial."

Mr Northridge asserts that in addition to the company's philosophy of
building up large, speciality accounts, the success of the business is
down to its after-sales service. "We see our after-sales performance as
important, possibly more so than pre-sales," he says. "We have in house
claims handling and we believe it is vital. We also don't like to change
markets year in, year out, just because some markets are cheaper. We want
to keep clients with the same insurers."

Investing in, and rewarding, its staff is also important to the
company.

"Training is important to us and will become more so with the introduction
of the General Insurance Standards Council," says Mr Northridge, adding:
"If a member of staff does something well, does the client appreciate it,
does the management appreciate it? Do they then go up to the person and
say well done, that's great?"

The company has recently embarked upon a new marketing campaign, being
spearheaded by new appointee Stephen Hodson who joined as marketing
manager from NIG. Part of the campaign will involve developing the
company's internet activity. "Our IT spend groupwise is #1.5m, which is
about 10% of our revenue. We welcome the internet. Some people are
frightened of it; we are not."

ALFRED BLACKMORE

Chairman and chief executive: John Northridge

Established: 1901

Number of offices: five

Locations: London, Spalding, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Bristol

Number of staff: approximately 200

Lines of business: Personal - 10%

Commercial - 85%

Financial services - 5%

Specialities: professional risks, construction, bloodstock, overseas
motor, classic car, kidnap & ransom, and healthcare.

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