Independent broker blog: Holiday blues

As I settle back into my desk after my annual family holiday and start to wade through the “tons” of email and correspondence, it takes only a day or two to feel like I’ve never been away!

I, like many other small business owners, am filled with a mixture excitement and trepidation before any break from work. You cant keep going forever without a break and there’s no doubt that re-charging the batteries will see me coming back refreshed and re-invigorated. However what’s going to happen in my absence, will they cope, what problems will arise and how will they deal with it?

I have a number of very good people working within our organisation, who have my upper-most confidence and without whom I could not relax when on holiday, let alone take a break. However I’m one of those types who has to be hands-on, involved in every deal and providing input to sales, admin, accounts etc. This I accept as being my biggest weakness and been my biggest challenge as my role has changed over the past year.

My role, as I see it, is to drive the business forward, to encourage the staff to take ownership and responsibility for all their actions, hopefully empowering them to play an active role and thus make a positive contribution.

I don’t always know all the answers and I’m learning to listen more than I talk, I’m reliably informed that we all have two ears and only one month and that I should use them proportionally. What I am not afraid to do is make difficult or unpopular decisions, if it is the right thing to do for our business. The question in the back of my mind as I board the plane; are the senior staff prepared to do the same in my absence?

This is an additional pressure for those I leave behind, a burden which they are not normally expected to carry and whilst with modern day technology I am contactable in emergencies, (yes, I am sad enough to take the Blackberry on holiday!) I’d much rather see problems confronted and an attempt made to resolve, than await my return.

What I’d like to avoid at all costs is the collective deciding what is best for them and not what is the best for Ashbourne Insurance or their clients, opinions are important and always welcome, however they are no substitute for direction and leadership!

I’m pleased to say that no such emergencies were encountered, or if they were, they have been dealt with and that both offices were still standing upon my return. By in large the staff in all departments had performed admirably, I shall therefore never doubt them again or at least not until the day of departure for my next holiday!

So then back to the desk; the week I left the FSA had announced it had spent nearly £800k on their commission disclosure review, all of this in the wake of criticism of their involvement in the current economic crises and proposed increases in fees for me and many brokers. Now I read that the organisation may well be disbanded, this could just be some political jostling on behalf of the opposition, however does anyone else feel like it could be “out of the frying pan & into the fire?” Does anyone really believe that they’ll just throw it all away and start again? More like the same organisation will be rebranded, given a boss to answer to - namely the Bank of England - and we all get more of the same.

Still not to worry, I see Lord Mandelson is galloping forward like a knight in shining armour to the aid of the trade credit crises, no doubt the spearhead for the governments defence to their involvement in the economic crises, which is sure to be an election issue.

I also note that insurers have still not managed to solve the aggregator problem in my two week absence. I read more reports of the need to increase rates and admissions that they can’t control internet pricing, where will it all end, surely there can’t be endless reserves and something’s got to give!

The credit-hire debate continues to roll and whilst some insurers still bemoan the introduction of this “uncontrollable beast”, I’ve yet to hear one admit that these companies are here as a direct result of their own failure to manage claims in the first place. I see that AA/Saga are launching their own “in-house” facility, I’m sure a number of other insurers are watching with interest.

I read reports that the aggregator Insurancewide.com looks doomed to fail, am I the only one who’d never heard of them? I’ve also heard a rumour that “happy” is going to tell the public to use a broker!

On a brighter note, I returned home on the final day of the second test to witness England beat the Aussie’s at Lords for the first time in I don’t know how many years.

Peter Smits is managing director of The Ashbourne Insurance Group.