The broker chief executive tells Insurance Times his overarching plans for his new Biba role, including developing peer-to-peer learning
After being elected as chairman of trade body Biba’s Greater Manchester and West Pennine regional executive committee on 10 May 2022, Broadway Insurance Brokers chief executive Daniel Lloyd-John tells Insurance Times that he plans to “put insurance broking on the map” during his 12-month term.
Lloyd-John, who founded Cheshire-based Broadway Insurance Brokers during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, explained: “The thing about the Biba committee is you stop being competitors. It allows a different head space to think about the bigger picture of what we do. I am proud to do it because Biba is one of the most established businesses in our game.
“I am keen on the role because I am also proud of the Greater Manchester scene and the north west. My view of the north west is that it is a very entrepreneurial and caring geography - that is reflected in the work of the committee. We act as the arms and legs locally putting insurance broking on the map.
“It’s the UK’s largest regional marketplace for financial professional business services – when you drill into that, it’s probably the only place outside the city of London with all subsectors. Manchester is a big insurance centre and it’s going from strength to strength.”
More to do
Although Biba is headquartered in London, Lloyd-John says the trade association has a regional feel and ethos, which is one of its “biggest strengths” as a member organisation.
Of Biba’s 11 regional committees, Lloyd-John adds that the Manchester collective is one of the biggest and oldest committee boards.
“The regional committees have a big role in trying to bring to life some aspects of Biba’s manifesto, but also helping Biba [to be] heard and relatable outside of the bigger events, such as the annual Biba conference in Manchester,” he says.
In terms of Lloyd-John’s overarching plans for the next 12 months as Greater Manchester and West Pennine committee chairman, he firstly intends to boost diversity among his fellow committee members - he believes there is always “more to do” when it comes to diversity and inclusion.
In addition, he wants to keep talent on the committee evolving as individuals opt to step down or retire.
He also aims to highlight the strength and promote the diversity of Biba’s “fantastic” Young Broker Committee in Manchester, which consists of brokers aged 35 or under.
For Lloyd-John, collaboration between the Young Broker Committee and his regional committee is important because “we are not all coming at life with the same basis of interest”.
“Therefore, the connectivity with that younger committee is important,” he adds.
To support this, a mentoring function has been put in place between the two committees, with every younger broker partnering up with someone on the senior committee, to benefit from peer-to-peer learning.
Lloyd-John also intends to implement a small number of insurance-based knowledge events, to raise interest and awareness around specific emerging risk areas, such as electric vehicles.
Chewing over regional dynamics
Lloyd-John notes that Biba’s regional committees help to drill down and dissect the trade body’s comprehensive manifesto.
Biba’s 2022 manifesto, which was published in January 2022, is themed around managing risk. It contains 52 calls to action and 25 commitments across six chapters and 84 pages.
Pre-pandemic, when Lloyd-John was still working at broker Marsh in a regional leadership role for the North and Scotland, he received a call from John Batty, Bridge Insurance Brokers’ director of technical services and chair of Biba’s regional chairs advisory board, who asked him to join the committee.
Initially, he was voted in as deputy chair of the Greater Manchester and West Pennine regional committee last year - he served under previous chair Pete Mullany, Griffiths and Armour’s head of intermediary.
Lloyd-John says: “You brainstorm and chew over the regional dynamics to this bigger insurance broking ecosystem.
“As deputy chair, you take over as chair. What I like about that format is it gives everyone a go, but you also get to put your own mark on it. The role provides [an] opportunity to fill in some of the bits and pieces.”
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