Verlingue’s new office provides ‘strong backbone’ amid expansion plans

Verlingue opening a new Birmingham office will give the business “strong backbone and presence across the whole of England” and a “real link up” with offices nearby, according to corporate director Ian McKinney.

The chartered insurance broker announced the new office in April 2023 as part of its ambition to expand its existing client base in the Midlands and south west.

McKinney, who will head up the operation, told Insurance Times that Verlingue was looking to “grow the business in the Midlands and the south west”.

And he felt that having the new Birmingham office gave the business a “nice geographical spread” that would allow it to “develop across the country”.

“We have an office in Manchester and we have offices in the south east – Birmingham gives us a bit of a real link up there and gives us a really strong backbone and a presence across the whole of England,” McKinney said.

Scope

McKinney, who has over 20 years’ insurance market experience, joined the broker from A J Gallagher, where he held roles such as service team leader.

His career has also included roles at both national and multinational insurance brokers including Oval, Aon and Willis, where he started out as a graduate trainee.

He said Verlingue was “fiercely independent” but also had “scope”. 

“I come from a general insurance background, that’s what I’ve been doing and that’s with mid corporate and corporate clients,” McKinney said.

“We’re very much not restricted to that – if the opportunity arises to do other things within the Verlingue playbook and what we do, then we have the freedom to do that within the group.”