Professional Broking - 2010-05-07
Articles in this issue
News Analysis: Volcanic fallout
Andrew Tjaardstra reports on the aftermath of the Icelandic eruption.
News Analysis: Quinntessential downfall
Quinn insurance and the Quinn Group are going through a crisis, writes Andrew Tjaardstra.
News Analysis: Promoting public financial knowledge
Emmanuel Kenning reviews the formation of an independent body designed to enhance the public's understanding and knowledge of financial services.
News Analysis: Is new note approach fit for purpose?
Emmanuel Kenning looks at a change in legislation designed to get people back to work as soon as possible after a period of sickness.
PB Events: Horses and courses make a great day
Kempton Park saw plenty of action on and off the course at this year's Insurance Race Day.
Technology: Google adds loading speed to ranking criteria
Emmanuel Kenning reports that website loading speed is now a factor in determining Google's search results.
Editor's Comment: Politics isn't about being popular
The Institute of Fiscal Studies last month gave us their verdict on the three parties' departmental spending plans over the next five years. It said that in each case over 75% of necessary cuts over the next five years were missing from their respective…
Viewpoint: Labour's regulatory record
When Labour swept into office in 1997 they arrived with a manifesto with much to say about financial services. They launched into their promised reforms of the institutions governing the sector, making the Bank of England independent for the first time…
Legal: Introducing The Equality Act (2010)
The UK's disparate laws on equality based on personal characteristics have been unified with the introduction of The Equality Act (2010). James MacNish Porter and Rachel Dineley explain the big changes that the Act heralds.
Management Clinic: Agreeing working hours
I would like to change my administrative employees' working weeks to make my business more efficient. Can I change the hours of some of my administrative staff so that they work half a day during the week and half a day on a Saturday?
Management Clinic: Don't overlook expenses
When we sell or renew car insurance we search the market for the best quote, but only offer legal expenses from one insurer. Why do I have to tell my clients that I am not giving them a choice in this?
Broking Success: Niche is the word
Emmanuel Kenning meets a Blackburn Rovers fan who started his career on La Réunion, 200 miles east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, and is eager for broking to improve its image.
Market Watch: Staying afloat
Marine insurance is tricky at best. Add a global recession, laid-up vessels and some soft sectors and you have a market in which only the most exacting will prosper, writes Jane Bernstein.
Preview Biba 2010: Talking up the future
Emmanuel Kenning picks out excerpts from the two-part Biba roundtable discussion hosted by Groupama.
ATE: Group Litigation: Collective danger ahead
Ever since the Woolf reforms removed legal aid for civil claims in 1999, a fearsome uprising has threatened, looming as a storm cloud over the insurance industry, writes Ralph Savage.
Directors' Q&A: Team effort
Cumbrian clothing retailer Lakeland tells the story of how it survived last year's floods with the help of Bluefin and Fusion Underwriting.
The PB Interview: Riding out the storm
Andy Homer, chief executive of Towergate, tells Andrew Tjaardstra how the company adapted to the tough economic climate by learning more about corporate finance and taking some hard decisions.