Bruce to ‘put his own fingerprint’ on Bluefin strategy

New Bluefin chief executive Mike Bruce will add his own twist to Bluefin’s strategy, according to the broker’s former chief executive and new executive chairman Stuart Reid.

Speaking to Insurance Times following the announcement of the new roles, Reid said: “Five years is a good term as chief executive and a good time to hand over to Mike. He will take the business in the same direction, but put his iown fingerprint on that strategy.”

He added: “We have to get re-engineered for the future. While the strategy itself won’t change, the emphasis is now on Mike to carry out that strategy and I don’t think I have ever met a man who could do it better.”

The change at the top of Bluefin will see Reid look after growth areas such as acquisitions and developing Bluefin’s MGA business. Bruce will be responsible for delivering growth in revenues and profitability, as well as hiring new talent and maintaining client focus.

Bruce, a former group managing director of Heath Lambert, joined Bluefin in February 2010 as chief development officer.

Bruce has not yet appointed a successor for himself in his previous role as Bluefin’s group managing director. He said: “I need a few weeks to be really clear about how our organisation and reporting lines match against the strategy.”

However he added that some new hires are in the pipeline. “We have got some good people arriving who are under the radar screen at the moment. That is business as usual as far as I am concerned. “

Acquisition pipeline

Bluefin is back on the acquisition trail after a lull in 2012. It is seeking to buy brokers with revenues of up to £2m.

It bought specialst insurer Bonsure in May.

Reid said the acquisition pipeline was very healthy and that the company had been “somewhat loaded down with enquiries”.

He said: “We hope Mike will be announcing in the coming months some big acquisitions and MGA news.”