THE BIG INTERVIEW
The company began when founder Andrew Barrow and his then business partner established a high street brokerage in Stone. Its original name, A1, reflected a very particular marketing priority of the time … appearing near the front of the Yellow Pages.
Customers queued for motor insurance cover notes so they could tax their cars. Quotes were handled through fax machines, and face-to-face service was part of everyday business.
As direct insurance changed that market, the firm increasingly focused on commercial clients. Peter joined in 2012, Mark rejoined a year later becoming involved in networking, sales and broking alongside the wider team. There was plenty of activity. The difficulty was seeing it reflected in the results.
Peter remembers“ working really, really hard” without seeing the benefits in terms of growth. A turning point came with an organic growth programme in 2019. With outside advice, the business began putting more structure around its operations, measuring performance and allocating responsibilities according to people’ s strengths.
Peter took on more of the work of running the business, alongside fellow director Jen. This left Mark and Andrew to concentrate on building strong client relationships while the team examined how it served existing clients, brought in new ones and developed its people.
The changes created room to reinvest and recruit. Acquisitions followed, including local broker Mercer Jones, whose emphasis on personal service and excellent advice Peter describes as a good fit with amb’ s own approach.
The timing made that expansion particularly demanding. The first acquisition process took longer than expected, then Covid intervened. Alongside recruitment and integrating the acquired business, amb changed its vital computer systems, moving client information across manually, month by month with a reduced headcount.
Peter is frank about the challenges of bringing people into an established culture and making several substantial changes while continuing to serve clients. Looking back, he recognises how much the team took on at once.
More recently, a rebrand, new website and deeper business relationships have supported a further phase of growth. Mark says the past three years have been driven particularly by organic new business, with referrals opening doors to more and more clients.
The next stage is focused on growing the team and developing those connections further.
“ It’ s just about doing the right thing by the right people, connecting people, trying to help them with their business problems, you know, beyond insurance,” he says, underlining the dual priorities the business prides itself on.“ If there’ s an insurance solution, great. But if we can introduce somebody within the business community, then that’ s what we’ ll do.”
That willingness to look beyond the immediate transaction is also where Peter sees the value of the growing Chamber relationship.
As amb has developed, its own needs have become more complex. Its clients, too, have needed access to different kinds of expertise. Connections that help solve those problems have become increasingly important.
Progressing from membership to strategic partnership and then Patron status reflects a greater commitment on both sides, he says. The firm wants to use that position to share expertise and support businesses across Staffordshire.
There is a strongly local motivation. Born and raised in the area, Peter is frustrated when he hears about contracts going elsewhere despite the skills and expertise available nearby. He wants more of those opportunities, and the spending they generate, to remain within the local economy.
One client relationship illustrates how that can work in practice.
A growing business initially wanted amb to look at its insurance with a view to finding something cheaper. Reviewing its operations revealed a more pressing problem. The scale of its contracts and equipment had moved beyond aspects of its existing cover.
So, the conversation widened. Questions about IT security led to introductions to specialists who could help, while concerns about contractual terms prompted a connection with a solicitor and discussions about the company’ s ambitions brought marketing support into the picture too.
Insurance had opened the door, but the relationship developed around the wider needs of the business. Mark says the same approach extends through the team, including helping clients find other professional advice when a problem falls outside amb’ s expertise.
For Chamber members, the Insurance Health Check provides valuable starting point for those conversations.
In a case study online, amb describes working with Smart Uniform, a longstanding local business that had been with the same broker for more than five years but lacked clarity about its cover.
ISSUE 7 69