Professional Broking - 2010-11-03
Articles in this issue
Viewpoint: Spending Review demands wise heads
Managers have had a difficult year, facing not only continued economic uncertainty and the lowest-recorded levels of employee morale but also the recently announced Comprehensive Spending Review, signalling the biggest business shake-up in decades.
Broking Success - Stonebridge Corporate: Building fast
Andrew Tjaardstra meets two young brokers aiming to make waves in their local market by growing their business fivefold.
News round-up: Insurers
Brit has formally accepted an offer of £888m from Apollo Management and CVC Capital Partners. The deal if agreed by shareholders is £10.75 for each share plus a further 25p if targets are met.
News Analysis - Spending Review: Coalition cuts deep to stimulate recovery
Emmanuel Kenning finds that brokers are determined to be optimistic in the wake of the Chancellor's £81bn of public sector cuts announced in the Spending Review.
Management Clinic - Employee procedures: Off the leash
An employee has completed a deal for a partnership with another company without consulting the relevant internal parties or gaining my permission as the managing director. How should I go about disciplining the employee in question, keeping in mind the…
Management Clinic - Due Diligence: What's in the box?
We have the opportunity to make our first acquisition of any size and it looks like a good fit. How can we be sure of what we are buying?
News round-up: Broker acquisitions
Essex-based commercial broker LFC Insurance Group acquired £2.25m gross written premium Chelmsford Insurance Centre.
News round-up: Business continuity
According to research from the Business Continuity Institute on behalf of the Chartered Insurance Institute, insurance professionals need a more consistent message when promoting the benefits of business continuity plans.
Legal - Compensation Claims: Seeing sense on compensation culture
The law regarding risk perception, negligence, responsibility and compensation is about to undergo a massive overhaul, writes Andrew Parker.
Focus - Management Structures: Building a board
Without a great team in the boardroom, any broker, regardless of size, is missing a trick that can pay long-term dividends for their business, writes David Waller.
News round-up: Organisations
The Chartered Insurance Institute has unveiled the New Generation Claims Group, which consists of eight young insurance professionals who will look at how social media can be used to improve customer communications during a claims surge. They will report…
Editor's comment: Regional gloom with some optimism
The Spending Review dominated October, the speculation leading up to George Osborne's announcement in parliament giving way to analysis of how hard and where exactly the Chancellor's axe will fall on public spending.
The PB Interview - Nigel Barton: Boutique beat
Emmanuel Kenning speaks with a DJ'ing broker who mixes passion with honesty in his search for talent.
Alex Broad
It is with great sadness we announce the devastating news that Alex Broad, publisher of PB and sister title Insurance Age died in early October.
News Analysis - PB Management Event: Planning for the recovery
Emmanuel Kenning reports on the key management information on offer to attendees at PB's annual conference.
Market Watch - Networks: Opening connections
Emmanuel Kenning argues that broker networks are becoming more popular, though managers need to think carefully about the offerings available through them before committing their firms.
SME Aggregators: Digital commercial futures
Edward Murray outlines the difficulties being encountered in establishing a successful aggregator template for small and medium-sized enterprise trade.
Technology Viewpoint - Document Processing: Urban myths: the paperless office
Anthony Macciola explodes the notion of the paperless office and lays out what steps insurance brokers can take to handle the ever-increasing amount of paper cluttering their organisations.
News Analysis - Conferences: Prime Minister announces £200m university and enterprise link
This year's Chartered Management Institute and Confederations of Business Industry conferences pulled in the big hitters as business leaders attended to work out how best to plan for the period of austerity ahead.
News: Large-scale pension reforms loom
If you do not have a pension scheme in place, then now is the time to act, as a series of state-mandated reforms is set to bite following the Spending Review.