Talbot Jones Recognised Among Insurance Business UK Fast Brokerages 2022
Like most people, we spent much of the last two years running on adrenaline and putting our efforts and energies into pressing on.
When the people at IBUK put the figures into context, we're frankly quite astonished, but mostly hugely grateful to the community who has made it possible.
Super excited to be preparing for our next new recruitment drive! Creating jobs was NOT in our vision when we launched: six years on it is an incredible joy and motivator!
Read the full and complete article over at Insurance Business Mag to read more about the other amazing winners!
Fast Brokerages 2022: A Time of Growth and Opportunity
From traditional brokerages to forward-thinking insurtechs and innovative start-ups, the winners of the Insurance Business UK Fast Brokerages 2022 have leveraged favourable market conditions and unique strategies to drive revenue and employee growth during a tumultuous time.
To win, companies had to achieve 20% or more revenue growth over 2020 and 2021, with gains in employee growth also considered.
How Talbot Jones Stood Out
We differentiate ourselves by emphasising the principal-agent relationship, leveraging new technologies, and encouraging staff to pursue higher education. We lost approximately 10% of our clients due to COVID in 2020. Still, our remaining clients did well, achieving a decent retention rate.
“This has coincided with well-documented premium increases relating to Brexit and COVID-19, which meant that our retained clients were paying more based on their increased wages and turnover, but also the market-led rate increases,” said Richard Talbot-Jones, our managing director in an interview with IB UK.
“We also attracted a high number of new clients, particularly from those made redundant and starting new businesses during lockdown. What helped us massively was acquiring March Insurance Services in 2021, boosting our GWP by approximately 40% from an underlying, organic growth rate of 25.5%. We are open to opportunities to acquire other brokers and have taken the opportunity to be agile and engage in government schemes such as Kickstart and apprenticeships as they appear. We have grown a reputation of trust within our communities, with loyal clients, cheerleaders, and advocates who have been a huge encouragement and support.”
Navigating a Curious Labour Market
It’s a curious time for the labour market. On the one hand, the so-called “Great Resignation” is poised to hit the UK with nearly 29% of workers expected to move jobs this year, according to research by Slack, the business messaging app.
On the other hand, employee growth through acquisition is also a driver, as globally, there was a 40% increase year-over-year in total deal volume through the end of 2021. In the UK, in particular, the M&A market was “very active,” driven by private equity involvement and rate hardening, with the outlook for 2022 expected to intensify as investors seek to seize opportunities presented by rate hardening, according to Deloitte.
In the face of these divergent conditions, Talbot Jones distinguished itself with a 50% employee growth rate. We are proud that Insurance Business UK recognised us for this award and look forward to continuing our growth as a brokerage.
