No time for office politics

It has been busy times at the The Insurance Partnership this year as it moved into £2.4m purpose built headquarters in Priory Park, Hull, giving the company a strong base from which to further drive the business. Indeed, since 2000, the broker has opened three offices.

In order to capture the essence of Rob Worrell's business philosophy, the following comment on insurers' service - which includes a dig at some of his fellow brokers - gives a lot away: "Being honest, I have no comments to make on their service and related issues as my focus is purely on what we can do as a business to improve our service and delivery. Some brokers concentrate on what they can't change instead of what they can." He continues: "I have always believed in treating people as you would wish to be treated yourself. When you finalise a deal, give your word, and then honour it."

The approach, concentrating on its own delivery, is behind a successful growth strategy that is showing no signs of stopping.

There has been no doubting Worrell's focus since starting the business with four partners and two staff, following Aon's acquisition of his former employee Minets. Wanting to provide as local a presence as possible, Worrell and his fellow directors embarked patiently on building a company that is set to be around for a long time.

TIP targets larger sources of premiums, often around £50,000, targeting medium-sized commercial businesses. There are bespoke offerings for hire, professions and haulage. TIP's traditional stronghold is Yorkshire but it places business across the UK and has tapped overseas brokers to fulfil the needs of international clients. Worrell comments: "We serve clients over the length and breadth of UK in addition to global placements. Our Midlands presence is developing well and will gain greater impetus."

The broker also has a financial services arm - a recent addition as brokers drive back into this market. There is £100m of funds under management. In addition, it has launched Health Insurance Brokers.

Earlier this year there was a restructure that has seen the appointment of three senior associate directors, with Kevin Cody responsible for sales, Richard Tuplin focusing on brand and marketing and David Hamilton handling special projects.

As a further development, three distinct departments have been created to focus on commercial insurance, corporate insurance and new business. Anne Foster, Nicky Barton and Kim Dalton have been appointed as the commercial, corporate and new business broking managers for their respective departments.

The broker has a close relationship with Insurecom and one of its brokers is the existing chairman of the TAM user panel. Development and investment in technology is "at the top" of TIP's agenda and they will use it to "maximise efficiencies and enhance the speed and quality of offerings."

Given the current acquisition climate, it is not surprising the broker has become a target and has had the inevitable approaches. However, there are not any plans afoot to remain anything but independent. The broker has been growing steadily and has plans to reach £50m of gross written premium by 2010. Worrell says: "We are not going to buy for buying's sake. We have a war chest if the right one was to come along - although it would have to make financial sanity rather than market vanity. However, we have no external shareholders and there is no goodwill in our accounts. We have expansion plans but our first priority is to dominate our doorstep, with a great local and regional presence."

A recruitment drive that will see seven staff join by the end of July, including a national broker regional director, signals intent to expand quickly. Worrell comments: "Recruitment is a challenge although our growing reputation and increased profile is helping. Retention is the key to our success." He explains: "We are determined to place a priority on addressing the work/life balance through flexible working and personal training as well as professional development.

"Our 'open door' management style compliments this whereby our current project is the formation of a training academy using our mentors, external professionals and insurer partners to dovetail our offering to the exact needs of each individual employee."

With this level of investment in the future, we expect TIP to be servicing clients for a long time to come.

THE INSURANCE PARTNERSHIP

Managing director: Rob Worrell

Established: 1993

Number of offices: Four

Locations: York, Hull, Lichfield, Sutton Coldfield

Lines of business: Corporate

Gross premium income: £35m.