The Wilson Organisation - A united front

The Wilson Organisation has undergone many changes over its 94 years. It was founded by Howard Wilson in 1914, who in the early days stood outside motor taxation offices to offer people insurance. The Wilson Organisation was a small company of eight staff by the time the young John Prow joined the business in 1960, the firm having been bought by his father several years before.

When his parents died in an accident, John found himself in charge of the business at the tender age of 26. Despite having only eight years' experience in the profession, John wanted to continue to grow the business and soon found the value of having the right team behind him: "I had the supreme confidence of youth but I could not have done it if I had not had a good team around me. We always do whatever we can to employ the best staff: a business can only succeed if it has the right people."

This philosophy is accentuated by nurturing talent. The management makes sure to meet its staff's expectations in training and career progression and also encourages them to share their ideas, demonstrating that they will be taken seriously. "We have such a small management team that we can adapt and take on new ideas very quickly," says John's daughter, Charlotte.

Community

The Prow family also looks to motivate staff by encouraging them to become involved in local projects. In 2008, The Wilson Organisation took part in a scheme by Sports Nottinghamshire that was trying to tempt business owners to invest in their employees' fitness and health. After winning first prize, the business received £2,500 to spend on staff sports equipment. Charlotte believes that being involved in such schemes is important: "It was really motivational. We saw some great teamwork throughout the businesses and the media coverage of the challenge helped raise our profile."

Having been put in a management position at such a young age, John was aware of the challenges his daughters would face when joining the business. In 1999, John's older daughter Charlotte joined The Wilson Organisation straight from college. When she first joined, Charlotte found she had to work hard to gain the respect of other staff: "It was a challenge trying to get them to see that I was in it for the long term so they could assist me and help me to learn."

Charlotte spent six years dealing with clients and insurers before joining the management team and she believes this experience was vital in making her a good manager: "It is difficult to manage people if you cannot do the job yourself."

Working as a family business has brought many advantages to The Wilson Organisation. The broker works closely with Coutts bank, which formed a forum for family businesses throughout the Midlands. Charlotte and her sister Annabel, who is chief executive of the financial services division, are both frequent speakers at events for family businesses and Charlotte believes that, as 60% of UK businesses are family ventures, these events have helped win the broker considerable amounts of new business.

The Prow family believes that, as a family business, The Wilson Organisation also has a strong management structure. "You have a lot more honesty and efficiency than you see in other management teams," highlights Charlotte. Non-executive directors from other industries also play an important role in the organisation to help bring balance and fresh views, as well as providing contacts for new business and specific projects. "They are there to tell us if we are doing things they do not see sense in, especially at a strategic level," highlights John.

The Wilson Organisation often turns heads by having two female managing directors in a male-dominated industry. However, Charlotte believes that both she and her sister have turned this to their advantage: "People tend to be impressed that Annabel and I are young women so senior within the business. They are interested in talking to us as we are immediately different. People can have more trust and confidence in advice from women, especially in the financial services industry."

Challenges

As with all areas of the country, businesses are suffering in Nottingham. The Wilson Organisation has grown up alongside other local firms such as the large textile businesses there, however nowadays Nottingham is home to a large number of construction and manufacturing organisations that have been particularly badly hit by the credit crunch. This means that, for a number of the broker's clients, turnover has gone down significantly and, as such, they have reduced their cover proportionately.

A few clients have disappeared completely, though despite this the Prow family and its staff view the recession as an opportunity to review business processes carefully to become stronger. The broker has hired an operational manager to reduce costs and help maximise staff output: recently, the firm has started using time sheets so that employees now account for where they have spent their time during the day, so helping manage staff allocation throughout the company more carefully and set appropriate bills for those clients charged on a fee basis.

As part of a drive to improve customer experiences, The Wilson Organisation surveyed its clients about the service the broker provides. The study highlighted an opportunity to cut printing and postal costs by going paperless. Charlotte explains: "People like to communicate electronically. Going paperless will also help our business continuity and assist staff in managing their clients without big paper files."

Despite economic challenges, the Prows continue to plan to grow the business and are looking actively to recruit further staff. The Wilson Organisation may be more exposed to the current economic turmoil than many but the Prows are looking to take the business into new sectors to compensate, such as their recent setting up of a scheme to work with local insolvency practitioners.

Charlotte believes the future is bright for the company, despite the challenges it faces. She says: "It will be a difficult 12 months for every business, particularly in general insurance, though we are confident we will continue to do well. Many of our clients are struggling but we have very high retention rates and believe our marketing efforts for new clients will pay off."

THE WILSON ORGANISATION

Chairman: John Prow

Chief executive (non-life): Charlotte Prow

Established: 1914

Location: Nottingham

Number of staff: 75

Main lines of business: Commercial

Gross written premium: £25m.