Comment - Feeling the pinch

With almost full employment in the UK, the continued disinterest in insurance of graduates and school leavers, plus the new regulator's training requirements, brokers are feeling the pinch when it comes to recruiting the right staff.

Welcome to the Professional Broking round-table supplement - sponsored by the Institute of Financial Services - which gets to grips with the issues facing brokers and the industry in general when recruiting, training and retaining.

The reality for many brokers in not being able to attract the right quality staff is often that the progress of the business is held up. With competition also greater than ever, the panel of attendees share their thoughts on initiatives that have been successful in securing and retaining good staff.

The hour-long debate was intense and, while some of the discussion will ring true for your business, I hope other opinions and perspectives aired will provide brokers with some food for thought on this topical issue.