Not the end of the street

The announcement of the Hill House Hammond closure threw the industry into a period of intense speculation about the future for high street brokers. However, far from sounding the death-knell for trade on the high street, personal lines brokers have every reason to be optimistic about the future.

It's a fiercely competitive market - but the fact that we have continued to grow our retail chain over the past four years is evidence that there is a role for the high street when it comes to selling personal lines.

What brokers do need to be successful however - and what HHH didn't have - is a strong model and clear market strategy. Cost efficiency has to be the key driver. At Budget, we are currently working closely with our software provider to network our 85 branches and replicate a banking model.

This will enable customers to deal with any branch across the UK and access information on their policies. It also means we can benefit from economies of scale as we make further acquisitions.

With one fully automated system and set of procedures, changes at all branches can be implemented in a single action - significantly increasing control and speed to market.

Although consumers have been ready to move to direct insurers and the internet, we are succeeding in attracting people back to high-street outlets.

Firstly, this is because there are still those who are wary of purchasing over the internet and would prefer to see the person - and brand - they are buying from. Secondly, because insurance is ultimately a price-led market, customers who were ready to move away from the high street for a better quote will just as readily move back to it for the same reason.

This is why competitiveness and a multi-channel approach, capturing as many routes to market as possible, is now key to growth - a combination of high-street presence with call-centre business, online broking and affinity relationships, underpinned by powerful management systems.

And with a major competitor taken out of the marketplace, any high-street broker who is doing these things should be looking forward with optimism.