Pride of Norfolk

Knowlden Titlow is on a one-broker mission to provide jobs for local people and return to the broking 'golden age' by providing high-quality services for its clients. Situated in Norwich, 115 miles from the big smoke, the 16-year-old brokerage is enjoying an average yearly growth of 15% through purely organic means. The firm's success is down to returning to the traditional ways of establishing and maintaining good client relationships, according to co-founder and partner at Knowlden Titlow, John Knowlden.

"Our client base is virtually all in East Anglia, so they're clients that we can get out and see from our base in Norwich," he says. Remaining a local broker is important to Knowlden, who insists there is more than enough business available in East Anglia and that there is no need for the company to canvas for new clients outside the region.

Even the staff is sourced locally, with some more experienced members being drawn from large nearby rivals including Norwich Union. With youngsters lacking the required skillset and Knowlden Titlow being too small to justify a graduate scheme, headhunting is seen as the primary means of filling vacancies.

In what he calls his "lifestyle decision", Knowlden decided long ago he did not want to be "a Peter Cullum". He comments: "I want to enjoy what I'm doing in being a broker, seeing the business grow, creating jobs in Norwich, employing nice people, having a good bunch of clients and a home life."

This unusual, and some would say old-fashioned, approach to broking is contrasted by the innovative IT system in use at the firm that was designed in part by Knowlden. PT3 was developed by Knowlden in conjunction with a programmer, and he claims the system gives insurance brokers what they really want rather than what a software house believes the broker wants.

"At my previous broker we used a mainstream system that was just awful, so I made my mind up that when I set up my own brokerage I wasn't going to be reliant on a system that nobody really liked," Knowlden comments. He explains that the real beauty of Knowlden Titlow having a bespoke system is that it can be tailored and changed quickly to adapt to new market conditions.

PT3 is proving to be so successful that Knowlden has sold the product to two regional brokers and an underwriting agency. Though he doesn't class this business as a real income stream, he is proud that he "reinvented the wheel" and challenged the restraints inflicted by existing technology.

Regarding the productivity of his system, Knowlden asserts that a major local insurer's claims department has six computer systems with claims handlers running three of them and as such it has no connectivity. He says: "They can set up only two motor claims per hour; we could probably set up a motor claim on our system in about four minutes."

As with many regional brokers, Knowlden Titlow has suffered slightly under current soft market conditions, though profit has been helped by the decision to introduce a fee-based practice. The ability to undercut national brokers that also operate using fees has opened the Norwich broker up to business that they may previously have been unable to obtain.

With direct reference to Knowlden Titlow's largest premium client, which provides an annual sum of £2m, Knowlden admits fully that the client should be with "an Aon or a Marsh", but that the lower operating costs and a good, professional relationship had led them to choose the smaller regional broker instead. Fee-based policies have proved so successful that Knowlden Titlow has decided that it will continue to operate this way, even when the market hardens.

Having now reached £15m gross written premium, Knowlden attributes the broker's success down to a single mantra: "Day in, day out, we aim to give our clients an unrivalled service and a competitively priced package arranged in a professional way." He concludes that in a sector that is dominated by news of acquisitions, Knowlden Titlow is "proud to be an island in the sea of tranquility rather than a star in Ursa Merger".

KNOWLDEN TITLOW

Company partners: John Knowlden and Jonathan Titlow

Established: 1991

Number of offices: One

Location: Norwich

Number of staff: 25

Main line of business: Commercial

Gross premium income: £15m.