Profit and Goss

At this year's British Insurance Awards, the Goss Group's general insurance division won the highly acclaimed Commercial Lines Broker of the Year Award. The judges felt Goss deserved the award for achieving its target of becoming a top 10 UK broker in just four years. Although Goss and Co started in Reading in 1921, its coming of age was in 1999 when it set its sights on becoming a top 10 UK broker by 2003.

Goss, now ranked seventh-largest privately owned, owner-managed commercial broker in the UK, has seen its premium income rocket, through organic growth and acquisition, from £8m to almost £50m, during this period.

Managing director Jeremy Wilson says: "It was fantastic to win the award as, historically, we have not been good at shouting about our achievements. This award is a great marketing opportunity and we can go back to our clients and thank them for their support in helping us achieve this. We can also go out to potential clients with a very convincing message."

Having achieved its target, Goss remains fiercely independent and generates its own capital to finance expansion. It is keen to acquire commercially based local brokers in Reading, Guildford and Newton Abbot. Wilson says: "This will help us provide a focused local relationship-based service to our business clients and, at the same time, allow these offices to benefit from group purchasing power.

"We are also interested in making larger acquisitions in the south of England. Ideally, we are looking for brokers in the £10 to 20m turnover bracket that have a similar ethos of providing local personal service to their clients who feel they could benefit from the purchasing power, compliance, training and resources of a larger broker, while retaining a degree of local autonomy and identity."

As part of its four-year plan, Goss brought all the divisions in the business under one roof. It also upgraded its IT capabilities and invested in recruiting and developing quality staff.

The award reflects Goss' commitment to staff. Wilson believes the brokerage is set apart from its competitors because of its people and its team-based focus on clients. He says: "We motivate employees by operating a hands-on management style, operating in a team-based environment where all members of staff are encouraged to take ownership. We also have a strong culture of training and personal development."

Goss has a share ownership scheme allowing staff to receive shares according to salary and length of service. Up to one-third of all profit is paid to staff as dividends.

The award also recognised the broker's investment in technology, which Wilson believes is one of the major drivers of business success and this is backed by a yearly IT budget of £300,000.

Wilson is also committed to electronic trading but argues that the Polaris imarket initiative has a long way to go before it is of use to commercial brokerages. He says: "There needs to be a single industry standard into which all the major insurers and software houses are plugged. While the imarket initiative is heading in the right direction, it currently requires double-keying by us, which only adds to our workload - this needs to be resolved."

"If imarket fails, we may have missed the opportunity for some considerable time and this will only encourage the industry to look at direct options in order to reduce distribution costs, which will be bad news for the consumer and for brokers."

Although Goss has reached its target of becoming a top 10 broker, Wilson recognises there are challenges ahead. He says: "There is no doubt that there is far greater capacity this year. Market softening means we have to write more premium just to stand still."

Financial Services Authority regulation is also adding considerably to Goss' cost base. Wilson says: "Size will allow us to attain the economies of scale that smaller firms will find difficult to achieve and absorb or pass on. We believe that we are flexible and have a culture where change and adaptability form part of our ethos.

"We are well placed to take advantage of the changing business environment and if we have to change further to stay on top, we will."

GOSS GROUP GENERAL INSURANCE DIVISION

Managing director Jeremy Wilson

Established 1921

Number of offices four

Locations Reading, Guildford, Newton Abbot and Cheltenham

Number of staff 110

Lines of business Commercial (85%) and personal lines insurance (15%)

Gross premium income £50m.