The rewards of consistency

Finding a truly independent broker in Bristol these days is no easy task with many of the larger consolidators realising the worth of intermediaries in the South-west, however, Mark Richard Insurance has decided to put the business' needs first and, by looking after its staff as well as its clients, the broker is now reaping its rewards.

With over 40 years' experience and good client-retention rates, Mark Richard Insurance is certainly an attractive business, but despite having meetings with a number of networks, managing director Mark Wyatt insists that he was happy to maintain his full independence. "I've always said 'never say never', but although I've met with two fairly key networks we're happy as we are at the moment," he comments.

The broker uses Open GI's technology, having done so since the software house's early days when they released the original Misys packages. Wyatt is fairly optimistic about the proposed changes since the Open group was bought by Towergate, saying the move "could well be good" for brokers using Open systems. Wyatt says he is looking forward in particular to Open GI's forthcoming web-based commercial trading platform, Open Trader, which will work alongside imarket.

With four decades of organic growth behind it, future expansion plans centre around improved marketing and building on current successes rather than looking to acquire a neighbour.

"We don't have a five-year plan as such, but there is one for the year ahead," Wyatt comments. He is coy as he explains further: "I don't want to go into too much detail at the moment, but let's just say we're looking at some marketing ideas that we think will work well." E-trading and e-business are also rising up the agenda, with personal lines already able to be purchased from the broker's website and a number of click-throughs and links being placed on other sites to increase traffic.

According to Wyatt, the real reason behind the broker's sustainability over the past 40 years is not just utilising new technology well or reacting to the market, or even changing from being a personal lines broker to a fully-fledged commercial and personal lines intermediary. "The key to Mark Richard Insurance's success has been consistency," Wyatt remarks. "The majority of our staff has been with us for over a decade, meaning that when a customer calls us they have a personal relationship with someone they see as their broker." This continuity has boosted client retention, and the personal touch offered as a local broker has led to an increase in policies sold by telephone.

Wyatt sees the potential arrival of a hard market next year: "If you'd asked me what I thought of the market between six and eight months ago I'd have said I was concerned, to be honest. Things look like they could be on the up now. Don't get me wrong, we're nowhere near the heights of 1993, but there are improvements."

He is optimistic about the future of the independent broker though is concerned about the likes of Axa and Groupama buying into brokers. Unless the industry is careful, Wyatt suggests, the market could become dominated by "nationals and super-regionals", leaving no room for the humble independent. "I really believe this would be bad for the consumer as well," he warns. A similarly underwhelmed response is offered to Norwich Union's idea of offering brokers a way of avoiding consolidators and acquisitive insurers by providing smaller brokers with finance: "Brokers are still going to feel some kind of allegiance to (Norwich Union) if they've provided them with finance, aren't they?"

Wyatt gives the impression that he is not in the least bit concerned about the apparent domination of the consolidators, as while there is the need for a consistent approach to broking backed by personal service there will always be a need for companies such as Mark Richard Insurance.

MARK RICHARD INSURANCE

Managing director: Mark Wyatt

Established: 1963

Number of offices: Four

Location: All in Bristol

Number of staff: 31

Main lines of business: SME

Gross premium income: £8m.