Consolidating the consolidator

'It's over, and can't be helped, and that's one consolation, as they always say in Turkey, when they cut the wrong man's head off,' says Sam Weller in Charles Dickens's The Pickwick Papers. Some say a similar sentiment prevails in the boardrooms of the so-called consolidators. Well, yes and no.

Recessionary 2009 is a far cry from the heady days of 2007 and 2008. At Bluefin, we are looking long and hard at what we have bought and how we complete the task of bringing together 16 separate acquisitions and 1,700 people under one brave new brand.

There is little solace in new business: with unemployment high and bankruptcies legion, there is not much of it about and the battle to win it is always hard fought.

Yet there are things that we can all do to ride out the storm. With the help of our partner insurers, there are real opportunities to strengthen customer loyalty by helping them through difficult times with exemplary service, crunch-busting deals and special offers such as we see on the high street every day. Customers seldom forget a good turn and doing the right thing by the people who have made us what we are has never been more important or potentially more rewarding.

The integration process itself creates opportunities to streamline systems, eliminate duplication and consolidate resources with inevitable reductions in operating costs.

There is also the opportunity for further acquisitions. Many of the consolidators - including ourselves - have asserted our return to the fray because, just like now is a good time to buy a plasma screen television or a new car, if you have the cash then it is also a good time to buy a broker.

We have to strive to get the very best from our people and our partner insurers, and, yes, there are better days ahead. In five years time, some names may well have disappeared but the resourceful, decisive and adaptable will still be here.