market talk


PLUS! John Robson


grammar school ‘O’ levels, John Robson’s overriding career aim was quite clear - find a job! Unfortunately a quest that was simply not possible in that part of the country in that era.


H


So he and a couple of friends made the decision to jump on a train to Kings Cross, and try their luck in London. Like most of us, insurance never figured on the Robson radar at first, and apprentice electrician working in the beer industry was his first role. He then became a clerk at Hawker Siddeley in Kingston- upon-Thames, where he learned that a move to an insurance company held the promise that he could be earning £1,000 per annum when he got to the age of 21. (This was in 1966 remember). Road Transport & General was the name of the company, and he worked for them for eleven years, by which time he was an agency inspector, and RT&G had become General Accident.


Moment of decision


The career moment of decision for many insurance people has proved to be the jump from the composite office environment to the smaller niche operator. At the time, former colleagues often looked askance at such moves, regarding them


ailing from the North East, and armed with five


very much as a step down. But at NIG, the Robson career took off. From the initial contact with brokers in Essex and East London; through superintendent status responsible for a team of inspectors; then assistant agency manager, to eventually being named head of personal lines business development. In the period ‘BDL’ - ‘before Direct Line’ - NIG was the jewel in the crown of the UK personal lines motor market. NIG and Bradford Pennine were the undisputed peers in this field, and when BP was taken over by Sun Alliance, NIG were left as the sole mentors in this market. Their benign influence of decision making and advice exerted a powerful spell in their chosen sector, not only for brokers, but also on the other insurers in their field who - while on the face of it competitors - were happy to follow the NIG lead in many market-related areas. Consequently, there were several individuals at NIG who enjoyed a strong presence in the market, and John Robson was certainly one of those people. Of course, times change, and the migration of former NIG personnel to the LV stable is well documented. John Robson made that move in 2006 as head of business development, and then as agency director whilst working at LV= and LV= Broker. Those five years at LV= seem


to have gone in a flash. Certainly he wasn’t twiddling his thumbs during those years. In some ways it must be like being born again. I asked John if he sees it that way too. “Yes, in many ways it is like


that. You spend 30 years in regional broking market operations, building and learning as you go. You naturally create a wealth of contacts. And a deep knowledge about your own particular market place. Inevitably things become a little cosy, and to some extent there’s a tendency to feel that you, and the operations you are responsible for, have become part of the furniture.


“Then someone comes along and asks you to build the same thing all over again!” In John’s case it was LV who asked him to develop business and broker recruitment to enable them to grow in the broker market, giving initially ABC and then LV a sprint start into the broker community.


In that development task, what were the biggest differences between ‘then and now’?, I asked.


“One difference was the need to ensure adherence with the FSA framework. Plus, of course the fact that agency admin and agreement documentation - and the IT systems to run them - have moved on during those 30 years. “And being involved in setting


by the Editor


John Robson retires at LV= later this year after 45 years in the insurance industry, having joined General Accident in 1966


John Robson


up branches for the commercial network by convincing regional commercial brokers to support. That means recruiting regional sales teams. Then came the absorption of the Highway agency management process and establishing the LV= agency structure.


“Apart from that - the story is the same. Treat brokers with courtesy and respect, and hopefully make them your friends at the same time as giving them the highest levels of support and service. Our business is committed to this and the reward is reflected in our stunning growth over the period.


“It’s been a tremendous time and it is a great privilege to have been involved from ‘blank sheet of paper’ to grown-up broker business with lots of hard work (and fun) along the way.”


risks are all the same... right?


Professional Wrong!


MUM is dedicated to making your business grow through helping you to make intelligent choices for your clients. We’ll give you expertise and service with integrity and we promise you’ll enjoy working with us.


T 01494 770700 www.manchesterunderwriting.com JULY/AUGUST 2011 insurancepeople 19


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