BIG - The big picture

Nestled in a backstreet of Bromley, the Brownhill Insurance Group does not appear much of a force to be reckoned with to the casual observer, however, behind the modest office facade is a great success story.

With an expanding customer base, managing director Kevin Andrews believes that the way this "fiercely independent" broker has stayed ahead of the competition is by retaining its family feel: many of the co-directors are related.

As one of only four staff when he joined the company in 1985, the key lesson Andrews retains from his early days is that the personal touch is vital. Customer recommendations and return business have helped BIG go from strength to strength, with much of its originally insignificant business leading to some of the group's largest accounts. "We like to pay all our customers equal attention," asserts Andrews and, despite huge variations in account sizes, "it has really paid off".

Andrews is proud of the individual service offered by his staff; every account has a single, named point of contact and personal visits are a must - even a pair of Smart cars is available for staff whenever they need to travel. Andrews states his approach: "Every broker claims that it has have the best customer service but we'll always come to see a client and we don't charge. The secret is to treat customers the way that you would want to be treated."

Last year, BIG undertook the long and gruelling process of re-branding from Brownhill Morrison West. "We sounded like a solicitor's firm," Andrews confesses. The main challenge during the upheaval was to retain the personal, family touch with both customers and insurers. Andrews sums up the difficulty: "Our clients love us. They stick with us; they wouldn't want us suddenly becoming 123insurancebrokers because they'd think we had sold out." With a lot of hard work, the transformation is now complete and has been a huge success. "As competitors have been selling out, we have only further cemented our identity."

Working with family

Although it adds a personal touch to a business, working with family is never without its challenges and it is therefore unusual that the directors of BIG are related. Three daughters of the original founder, John Brownhill, continue to work at BIG, as do two of their husbands. Andrews is married to one of the daughters but says that it does not cause any problems. "Sometimes it feels like we are running Brownhill by committee, but it works," claims Andrews, noting how each director has found their niche.

The directors have tried to spread the family-business feel throughout their respective remits. Andrews believes that, through such close contact, the common goals of the directors rub off on their employees: "We're young, so all (of us) have the drive and the same aims. We know where we want to take the company."

Throughout his time at BIG, Andrews has played an integral role in forging strong personal relationships between his team and insurers. He has cultivated strong ties with Norwich Union, Axa Art Insurance and Chubb and is able to provide a wide variety of cover.

A division of BIG, aptly named Love Art, was created as part of the firm's 2007 re-brand to build on its success in the art market. Close relations developed over the years with high net worth insurers that have helped the company react to changing markets.

"We were seeing an increasing trend of younger couples investing in art rather than traditional outlets due to the state of the market," Andrews notes in explaining a new scheme for first-time art collectors whom he believes will be a big success. He continues: "The personal touch Brownhill can provide means the risk to their new collection is properly surveyed and a new collector can feel like they are properly taken care of."

Original

BIG has a history of innovative offerings. In 1984, John Brownhill launched a home insurance neighbourhood-watch scheme that put the company on the map by offering the first no-claims bonus scheme. For Andrews, John Brownhill set a precedent for innovation that he has endeavoured to match since becoming managing director upon John's retirement 12 years ago. Andrews reflects: "The business has grown on the back of that single scheme and it is still successful today."

In 2003, BIG became one of the first brokers to join the Cobra Network. The broker entered the commercial market shortly after joining, despite having focused previously on personal lines almost exclusively. Andrews believes that it is one of the best decisions he has made: "Cobra gave us access to markets that we would have found very difficult to get into ourselves."

Relationships developed within the Cobra Network have also helped sell BIG's services to other brokers: it takes on network members' household and personal high net worth customers. Many commercial brokers have staff spend their time looking after the personal insurance needs of important clients and so Andrews believes that his firm's offering is the solution.

As part of the re-branding programme undertaken last year, the company has introduced a system of dual branding on its outsourcing products. Andrews asserts that many brokers want to free up time for their staff to specialise but that they have been nervous about losing their identities with customers: "Double branding enables the customer to retain the same relationship with the original broker; it is proving very popular."

Andrews says that the most important ingredient to success when outsourcing is picking carefully who you work with. Time and effort has to be spent getting to know everyone within the company at all levels. Andrews comments: "All businesses have their problems but our close personal relationships enable us to pick and choose our associates carefully to ensure good working relationships."

Confidence

Many brokers are nervous about future revenues, yet Andrews does not share their fears and is considering taking on new staff. Last year, BIG recorded a healthy 10% growth and, over the next few years, it is looking to build on this and live up to its BIG acronym.

Andrews enthuses: "We have a lot of great ideas and our personal touch means people want to work with us. Last year, we spent a lot of time and energy getting the right people to work with. We are at the cusp of developing several new partnerships and the future is very promising."

BROWNHILL INSURANCE GROUP

Managing director: Kevin Andrews

Established: 1980

Location: Bromley

Number of staff: 20

Main lines of business: Household, high net worth, commercial

Gross written premium: £5m.