The fast track to success

Bollington Insurance was originally established in 1973 as a specialist motor trade broker. Now known as The Bollington Group, its commercial division accounts for more than 50% of its business. It also operates personal and financial services divisions. In February 2003, the group underwent a management buyout led by group chairman Paul Moors and group chief executive Stephen Wall. It has since strengthened its management team with a number of appointments including Phil Gee as group managing director.

Bollington was recently placed 45th in the Sunday Times Virgin Atlantic Fast Track 100 list of the fastest-growing companies in the UK. This was based on performance over the last five years, when it achieved an annual growth rate of 88% with income increasing more than sevenfold.

Moors says: "We intend to become a national broking force; we have opened six new offices and now provide coverage in the South, South West, South East, North Midlands and the North West."

In August 2003, Bollington purchased Capey and Co, which now trades as Bollington Capey. It is in negotiations for further acquisitions, which will see it open offices in the East Midlands, the North of England, South Birmingham and the West Country.

Moors adds: "We are looking to double in size within the next four years through acquisitions, start-ups, marketing and niche developments. We are also keen to secure the services of dynamic individuals/teams who are looking to establish themselves as an integral part of a growing operation."

Bollington is accredited as an Investor in People and recently received a North West Training Award for its training strategy in which it provides internal and external training programmes.

Moors says: "Bollington is highly committed to staff training and we aim to ensure that employees have the best possible skills and knowledge to serve our clients. The Financial Services Authority training and competence rules and guidelines are a way of further demonstrating our commitment to training and development."

The Bollington Group has submitted its FSA application and Moors believes that regulation will be good for the business and for the industry as a whole.

Bollington has repositioned itself to reflect the dramatic change in size, culture and services. It has rebranded its divisions as Bollington Corporate Risks, Bollington Commercial and Bollington Personal. Moors says: "We have come a long way since the buyout and needed to communicate this to clients and insurers. Bollington deals with a very broad spectrum of businesses and individuals, each requiring something different from us. We now have divisions that have their own clear identities and this will allow us to communicate directly with the disparate markets we serve in a way that will be clearly understood."

Internally, Bollington has streamlined all processes of client interaction to produce a consistent level of service. It also plans to further invest in technology to consolidate its systems in early 2005.

The group received the 2003 British Insurance Broking Initiative of the Year award at the British Insurance Awards for its children's homes initiative.

The award was in recognition for the work the group had done in securing cover for care homes that otherwise would have been forced to close.

Bollington was able to agree risk management procedures and principles with insurers. It has now established itself as the market leader in the insurance of fostering agencies, outreach support, learning difficulties, mental health and elderly care, with liability insurance premiums alone for this sector in excess of £5m.

Although Bollington does not sub-broke this class of insurance, it will accept introduced business provided the risk can be fully surveyed, audited and serviced by its own specialist care brokers.

Bollington undertakes risk management surveys for clients, including the publishing of a client audit. This information is used in broking the risk and providing underwriters with a clear understanding of any proposal.

Moors argues: "Risk management is extremely important, especially as the insurance market softens and it becomes an increasingly valuable-added service, to be enhanced and developed by clients to cater for the cyclical nature of premiums and outside economic forces."

THE BOLLINGTON GROUP

Group chairman: Paul Moors

Established: 1973

Number of offices: eight

Locations: Bournemouth, Derby, Exeter, London, Macclesfield, Stoke, Manchester

Number of staff: 101

Lines of business: Commercial lines, personal lines, financial services

Gross premium income: £35m.