Whether it's the Heath/Gallagher deal or Markel and Willis's home and away tactics, Danny Walkinshaw finds that there's plenty to talk about this week

As the dust settled on Gallagher’s acquisition of Heath Lambert, there was still life left in this story. With Heath under the control of its new US parents, the broker filed its annual accounts. As revealed first on InsuranceTimes.co.uk, Heath’s operating profit rocketed 83% in 2010 to £6.6m, aided by a healthy fall in administrative expenses.

Looking at the figures, it appears Gallagher paid a fair price for Heath after lengthy negotiations. It looks more and more like a deal that suited both sides down to the ground.

Markel looks abroad ...

As Gallagher looks to capitalise on the UK retail market through its acquisition of Heath, one insurer is looking to expand its horizons outside the British Isles. Markel UK, the retail division of Markel International, says it wants to grow its retail business worldwide. It has handed UK boss Steve Carroll a new role, focusing on overseas retail business as well as in the UK.

Markel says the move is the culmination of building a successful UK retail business. But can Markel tap into markets where others have failed?

… while Willis focuses on UK

Willis made some very notable changes this week. UK chief executive Brendan McManus is now in charge of Willis Limited, the principal UK broking company of Willis Group, alongside his current duties.

Quite how McManus’s duties will differ is yet unclear. But what it does show is Willis Group chief executive Joe Plumeri’s faith in his UK lynchpin. Could it be enough to tie McManus down for a longer stint inside the Willis building on Lime Street? He’ll be desperate not to lose him to a UK rival looking for a new leader, that’s for sure.

Xchanging moves the goalposts

Outsourcing specialist Xchanging has had a topsy-turvy year. Hit by a £100m writedown in February amid a profits warning, the company this week moved to restructure its insurance business. Xchanging’s services are widely used among insurers and brokers, particularly in the London market. So it may have come as a surprise when insurancetimes.co.uk revealed that Xchanging Broking Services managing director Artur Niemczewski was leaving the business after eight months.

Niemczewski is a well-known figure in the London market after spells leading businesses at Marsh and Willis. The pain suffered by Xchanging in the past year appears to have led to the axe falling on his head. The company had big growth ambitions, but it is understood that the scope for a large management team is no longer viable as the company reassess its targets.

Brokers' flight to quality

This week brokers told us that winning an insurer agency is becoming tougher. So in our Inside Broking section we put together 10 ways a broker can be successful at winning insurer agenciess.

One tip, according to the broking experts, is to target quality insurers, rather than in quantity. Also in Inside Broking, we looked at how brokers are handling claims. There’s a huge split in the market between brokers that are outsourcing claims and managing them in-house. We went in search of why.

Insurers get personal

Meanwhile, what's with the sudden interest in personal lines brokers? Kwik-Fit and Provident have been the subject of big-money takeovers. Elsewhere, RSA has snapped up Oak Underwriting.

Whispers in the market suggest there could be one or two other brokers in the personal lines motor market attracting attention. The obvious answer is distribution. But there are other factors affecting this sudden trend. Click here to find out what.

Fearless leader

Finally, the chief executive of Chubb Europe Michael Casella this week welcomed the threat posed by RSA in the high net worth market since the Oak deal. The Italian-American gave an open and frank interview to Insurance Times.

Danny Walkinshaw is digital news editor.

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