Eric Galbraith: Still buzzing from Biba

That’s always the way with the Biba annual conference. You spend months working towards it, planning schedules, finding speakers, anticipating events and getting everyone assembled in the right place at the right time, only for it to be over in what seems to be the blink of an eye.

Our trip to Manchester last week for Biba 2011 was no exception. Perhaps the pace wasn’t quite as fast as the film Gone in 60 Seconds, but it felt just as breathtakingly daunting at times.

There was a fabulous buzz around conference and that has remained with me since my return to the office. My guess is that turnout was higher than ever. It was gratifying to have our conference theme, Opportunities in adversity – which was selected so far in advance – confirmed as reflecting the true mood of our sector. Again and again delegates told me that while business may be difficult, there are still good deals to be done.

Sugar beats Scalextric

I witnessed the strange phenomenon of brokers queuing up well in advance to hear a speaker – the prospect of free drinks and all the Scalextric you can handle normally makes it nearly impossible to dislodge them from the exhibition hall.

A little bit of sweetness can be very persuasive. And Sir Alan Sugar, one of our keynote speakers, certainly didn’t disappoint with his forthright views on succeeding in business. His comments about the slower speed with which the UK insurance industry pays out on claims compared with the US did not go unnoticed either.

Merger talks

Now it’s back to business and, like everyone, we have lots before us, both internally and externally. Not least are the formal merger discussions, under heads of agreement, with the Institute of Insurance Brokers, which were announced at conference. In this new regulatory environment, one voice within the broking sector is vital. One association instead of two would add strength to our lobbying campaigns on the big issues affecting brokers. We aim to complete discussions by the end of 2011.

Then there’s our regulatory agenda. Client money issues, which were given an airing during our regulatory forum, the revision of the Insurance Mediation Directive (IMD) and the members’ petition on the FSCS remain top of Biba’s list of external activity. Don’t forget that the deadline for the return of completed FSCS petitions to Biba is Friday 20 May.

United voice

I cannot emphasise enough the importance of us all being familiar and consistent with our messages about future intermediary regulation under the FCA, reform of the FSCS and revision of the IMD. Do not underestimate the importance of our sector, the validity of our messages or the opportunity we have to influence matters.

Thanks to everyone who attended conference. It won’t be long before we have to cast our minds forward to the next Biba, on 16 and 17 May 2012. We will be returning to Manchester, largely thanks to a certain sporting event absorbing all ExCel conference capacity in London next year. Let’s stay positive and focused because, just as with the Olympics, it’s by coming together and taking part that we can achieve so much.

Eric Galbraith is chief executive of Biba.