PB Week: Where is our summer?

The fastest milkman

On Friday, I did manage to enjoy a few minutes of sunshine on the roof terrace at Conran’s Coq d’Argent with Bernard Mageean, managing director of QBE’s property division. After 32 years at RSA he says he is the “new kid on the block” at the Australian insurer and also told me about his friends’ drunken quests to remember the opening lyrics to Benny Hill’s Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West). It begins: ‘You could hear the hoof beats pound as they raced across the ground.’ He says his work inbox was clogged up with e-mails with the opening words and that his secretary was bemused by what this had to do with work. Well, milkmen need insurance too, not that many insurers would be queuing up to insure Ernie and his sidekick Trigger.

Maso reassures over job cuts

This week has seen a flurry of half year results with restructures galore. Philippe Maso, chief executive of Axa UKGI, stressed that Axa UK’s 500 job cuts would not effect the insurance division or brokers and said it was part of Axa’s plans of sharing resources and was “nothing to do with front line business”. He announced an increase in underlying earnings from £30m [1H 2007] to £77m [1H 2008] for UK general insurance with a COR of 99.1%. Maso said that he was particularly pleased with growth and an improved COR in fleet but that he was reducing GWP in property and casualty. Also, he added that losing top line in intermediated personal motor but growing top line at Swiftcover. And Maso had all this information from his holiday in Corsica – we hope your family understand Philippe.

For more half year results and reaction please see the breaking news column on our website's home page - go to the home page and click on the NEWS tab at the top on the right.

Insight at Towergate

Chris Guillaume, managing director at Open GI, was in good form at a press lunch on Wednesday and gave an insight into the complex structure within the group. In a meeting with Countrywide’s former arch rival Grant Ellis, the previous day, the two men found themselves unnaturally talking about business “synergies”. And presumably about what happens to the revenue if a Broker Network member places a Towergate Underwriting product using Open GI? Guillaume is confident of growth going forward and feels that his new PowerPlace and OpenTrader platforms could be the future of commercial EDI when they are finally released. Watch this space.

PB Management Event

Finally if you have not yet had the opportunity, remember to book your place at this year’s PB Management Event at www.pbmanagementevent.co.uk

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