Aston Charles’ Management Training Course Declared A Roaring Success

Aston Charles’ Management Training Course Declared A Roaring Success

Last month, we conducted our first foray in to delivering Management Training through our partnership with Knipe Development Ltd.   Joined by a number of insurance professionals from several brokers across the UK, three of Aston Charles’ Consultants spent two enjoyable days in a highly interactive management masterclass.

The training course, entitled ‘Management Essentials’ was run by Knipe Development’s MD, Paul Knipe who has previously delivered training courses to Blue-Chip firms such as BSkyB and Jaguar Land Rover.  Prior to setting up his own firm, Paul worked for some of the UK’s most prestigious banking and insurance businesses, so was able to tailor his approach to suit the delegates’ background.

Henderson Insurance Broker’s Group Head of Claims, Susan Holmes comments, ‘’What a pleasant and informative way to spend two days. By far the most useful training course I have attended and I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone looking to develop/ improve their management and leadership skills.”

Graham Barr, also of Henderson Insurance Brokers Ltd, clearly agrees, “The course was immensely enjoyable, it has provided me with the tools and knowledge base to improve within my role and to help develop those with whom I work.  I would highly recommend the course to anyone with management responsibilities who is looking to develop within their current role”.

Anders McLocklan, Head of Office for The Insurance Partnership (Midlands) comments, “This was a varied, interesting and thoroughly enjoyable training course.  Over the two days, I learned lots of new and insightful management techniques that will no doubt prove useful when developing my team.  I would wholeheartedly encourage anyone considering investing in training courses to get in touch with the Team at Aston Charles.”

Aston Charles’ MD, James Heald, concludes, “As regular readers of our blog will know, we have long since stated our commitment to differentiating ourselves from competing recruitment agencies by developing a series of value-added propositions.  These include employing our own in-house Business Consultant to assist clients with their M&A campaigns and now, running a range of bespoke training courses Financial Services and General Insurance industries.”

After receiving such positive feedback, Aston Charles is planning to run a new schedule of training courses.  Courses likely to be included are a repeat of ‘Management Essentials’ for those who missed out last time, and a bespoke version of the ever-popular ‘Successful Sales Training’ course, which will be geared towards those individuals working in the Financial Services and General Insurance sectors.

Generous discounts are available to those registering an early interest or making multiple bookings. To find out more, please contact James Heald on 0845 8388 664.

Aston Charles Features in Insurance Times

Aston Charles Features in Insurance Times

Aston Charles continues its impressive run of ‘firsts’ with its inaugural appearance in today’s edition of  Insurance Times, widely recognised as the industry’s leading weekly news publication.  This features Aston Charles’ Business Consultant, Nigel Law, who shares his experiences of broker acquisitions in the ‘Expert View’ section.  In Nigel’s feature, he gives an historic review of the Mergers and Acquisitions across the UK Insurance industry, as well as highlighting his breadth of experience of personally conducting M & A campaigns. 

Simon La Thangue at Insurance Times comments, ‘Having such a well known Insurance professional as Nigel sharing his thoughts on M & A activity in the UK broking market certainly adds a lot of weight to the debate.  I thank him for his insight and wish Aston Charles every success in this partnership.’

For those who have not yet received their copy of Insurance Times, we have copied the article below…

Mergers and Acquisitions – An Independent View

In the mid 1990′s, UK Insurers recognised the need to compete on a global scale to ensure they were not gobbled up by the major European and World players. This precipitated a flurry of Merger & Acquisition activity to build independent UK Insurers that had the scale to compete internationally. Old names like Commercial Union, Sun Alliance, General Accident and Eagle Star disappeared to be replaced by larger post-merger organisations like Royal and Sun Alliance, CGU (temporarily) and larger versions of Zurich (including Eagle Star) and Norwich Union (including CU and GA).

In parallel, the M & A activity accelerated in the broking market with the emergence of Super Provincials diving headlong into major programmes of consolidation. Putting aside any assessment of the adequacy of returns on capital achieved by the various M & A’s, what has become increasingly apparent (and this is reflected in a broader societal shift against mega corporate bodies) is that there remains a real desire for the retention of strong and truly independent Insurance Brokers. Regrettably, those independent Brokers will increasingly struggle when in competition with the major consolidators whose resources, and returns from Insurers, will give them a serious competitive edge. However, the truly independent Broker still has a place in our society, as long as it can demonstrate a niche, or a significant USP, allied to its long-standing and well earned reputation in its local market place.

Inevitably, some smaller independent Brokers will themselves need to consider moving to the next level through a rapid growth of their existing business, by the acquisition of Brokers who may be looking to sell because they are approaching retirement, or by acquiring teams of people who have perhaps become a little disaffected with life in the larger corporate organisations. For these acquisitive Brokers, there is often a dearth of knowledge on how to implement an Acquisition Strategy, or where to find suitable selling Brokers. Most often, they will try to do their own thing, bereft of the right advice, making the kind of mistakes that will undermine the financial worth of their acquisition, or damage the faith of both their staff and their clients. Those who do seek advice often get it from a bank, a VC, or from someone with their own vested interest. As such, the advice they receive may not be truly independent and may well not fit with their company ethos.

For the Broker who is facing the difficult decision on whether the time is right to sell, there are a number of perplexing quandaries to resolve. Firstly, is now the right time? Secondly, what price can I realistically expect to get for my business? Thirdly, who do I sell to and how will they treat my loyal staff and clients who I have become so close to over the last 30 years?

Aston Charles is delighted to advise that it can now offer completely independent (of corporate and political influence) advice on the Acquisition Process including Prospecting, Deal Making, Due Diligence, Staff Retention and Integration.

Nigel Law has joined as a Business Consultant and he will be drawing on his own experience of over 40 years in the industry, during which time he has held such esteemed positions as MD of Broker Network Insurance Brokers and most recently, Operations Director of J M Glendinning Insurance Brokers. Nigel has been involved in the acquisition of a number of businesses. His advice comes with the admission that, whilst there have been a lot of successes, there have also been some acquisitions, or negotiations, that have been less successful. Drawing on all of his experiences, he believes he is well placed to give mature, balanced and truly independent value adding advice.

Nigel has been retained by a number of Brokers, including well respected family run firms that already have established acquisition programmes in place, regional independents that are looking to make their first purchase, through to Super Provincials with significant finance in place for ‘mega-acquisitions’.

Whether you are looking to buy or sell, regardless of your company’s size, business make-up, or geographical location, with Nigel’s wide range of contacts in the UK broking community, he is confident that he can assist.

For a free of charge, no obligation review of your situation, Nigel can be contacted in confidence on 07774 690436 or by email at nigellaw@astoncharles.co.uk

Invitation to a Management Training Course

Dear All,

Invitation to a Management Training Course

At Aston Charles, we appreciate that arranging training courses for small numbers of people can be difficult, and costs can sometimes escalate to thousands of pounds.

Therefore, as a special offer to our valued clients, we are inviting you to a 2 day Management Training course on the 12th and 13th April 2012.

This will be held at Aston Charles’ Head Office at No 2 Wellington Place, Leeds, LS1 4AP.

The course will be run by Knipe Development Ltd, who have provided training to companies including Jaguar Land Rover, Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays and BSkyB, to name just a few. As such, we expect this to be a fantastic event, and one which we hope will add significant value to your businesses.

This comprehensive 2 day course will cover key leadership subjects including:

  • Vital interpersonal skills for becoming a successful, respected manager.
  • Tried and tested techniques to get the best out of your team.
  • An awareness of your own communication style.
  • Motivational techniques.
  • Communication skills, that work upwards and downwards through your organization.
  • The confidence to give useful feedback and tackle conduct issues.
  • The ability to manage your time and delegate with confidence.
  • Assertive techniques to deal with conflict and say ‘no’ when required.
  • Tools to help you handle stress and conflicting demands on your time.

Please note that we only have 4 places left and are able to offer these to our clients at the incredibly low price of £199 incl. VAT, per delegate. As I am sure you will agree, this represents fantastic value for a course of this content and quality.

The closing date for bookings is 23rd March 2012.  All bookings will be made on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.

We are extremely excited about this event, and very much hope that you will be able to join us.

To book your place, please contact Aston Charles on 0845 8388 664 or email James Heald at jamesheald@astoncharles.co.uk

Whilst writing, if you would be interested in any other specific types of training courses, then please let us know and we will endeavour to arrange one for you.

Kind regards

 

The Team at Aston Charles.

Aston Charles – Going International!

Aston Charles – Going International!

The Team at Aston Charles extend a hearty ‘Bravo’ to Saraya Fawcett for winning the 2011 annual sales competition, resulting in an all expenses paid trip to Paris.  There was plenty of healthy competition and a fair degree of friendly banter in the run up to New Year’s Eve, with all Consultants remaining in the running come mid-December.  However, it was Saraya, who heads up Aston Charles’ Insurance Claims Desk, who secured the bragging rights and the tickets to the City of Love.

Over Saraya and Boyfriend Leon’s long weekend, they took in all the sights of Paris, including such ‘must do’s’ as dining at the Eiffel Tower, enjoying a boat trip on the River Seine and visiting the Louvre Museum.

Saraya’s Manager, Allan Parker, said, ‘Saraya only joined us in May, and to make such an impact in her first year is a fantastic achievement. It is a real testament to her hard work, dedication and commitment to her job.’

Back in Leeds, Saraya comments, ‘Leon and I had a fantastic time in Paris, and we’d like to thank Allan and all the guys at Aston Charles who have made me feel so welcome upon joining the team and supported me in reaching my goals.’

Alongside an industry leading salary and commission structure, Aston Charles runs a range of monthly and annual sales incentives to reward Consultants for delivering excellent client and candidate service.  We are interested in speaking to experienced recruiters from a range of professional services disciplines including Financial Services, Accountancy and Finance, Legal, HR, IT and Oil & Gas. If you share our open, honest and consultative  approach to professional services recruitment and would like to discuss your career options, please call Managing Director, James Heald, in confidence, on 0845 8388 664.

Acquisition Support

Acquisition Support

In our regular discussions with Brokers, we hear that many of you would like to embark on an expansion drive through Broker Acquisitions, but you have been impaired by a lack of time to facilitate the process, a lack of knowledge of the essential ingredients of a successful acquisition strategy or a concern that, having got your fingers burnt in the past, you do not want to make the same mistakes again.

There is no doubt that many larger broking organisations initially faced similar quandaries, but their success is proof that with a well thought out and planned process, Broker Acquisitions can be relatively painless and can add real value to your business.

Often the biggest barrier for you is the loss of your precious time in sourcing and negotiating the right deals for your company, in doing all the necessary preparatory work, and then in ensuring that once you have signed on the dotted line, the process of integration is as painless as possible, particularly in relation to your new people and the merging of cultures – and all of that whilst trying to run your ‘Business As Usual’.

With all of this in mind, we are delighted to advise you that Nigel Law will be joining us from 1st March and one of his major roles will be to provide consultative support to Brokers who are considering Acquisitions.

Nigel is well known to many of you through his roles as Regional Manager of Norwich Union (North East) and NIG (North West) as well as through his senior broking positions as Managing Director of BNIB (Broker Network Insurance Brokers) and Operations Director of JM Glendinning.

In his role as MD at BNIB, Nigel was involved in the acquisition of a number of businesses and, learning from both successes and those less beneficial ventures, he has an enormous amount of knowledge to share in areas such as-

  • Sourcing potential Selling Brokers
  • Initial discussions
  • Negotiating the right deal
  • Due Diligence
  • Covenants and Contracts
  • Integration (with an emphasis on the key cultural areas)

If you are considering expanding through acquisition and you would like to make use of someone who has lived through the process, Nigel would be happy to meet you to determine whether his services could be of use to you as part of your Acquisition Strategy.

Thinking of Selling Your Business?

For every potential buyer there must be a willing seller and you may be thinking that now is the right time to capitalise on all of the hard work that you have put into building your business.

You may also be concerned about protecting the interests of your loyal employees after you have sold.

If you feel that the time may be right to sell, but you are not sure how to start the ball rolling or you simply want someone to guide you through the process, Nigel would be happy to talk to you.

For a confidential, exploratory discussion, please call Aston Charles on 0845 8388 664 or call Nigel directly on 07774 690436.

Well known industry name joins Aston Charles

Well known industry name joins Aston Charles

We are delighted to announce that Nigel Law will be joining Aston Charles on an interim basis with effect from 1st March ‘12. 

As many of our readers will be aware, Nigel is an extremely well known individual within the UK insurance community and has held many senior posts including Managing Director of Broker Network Insurance Brokers (BNIB), Regional Manager for both Norwich Union (North East) and NIG (North West), and most recently, Operations Director at JM Glendinning Insurance Brokers.

Nigel will be focusing on senior level appointments and introducing Aston Charles to his extensive network of contacts throughout the UK. In addition, he will be heavily involved with Aston Charles’ Mergers and Acquisitions offering.

Director, Richard Jones, comments, ‘We have been in dialogue with a number of brokers who are weighing up their succession planning opportunities, as well as both consolidators and independents who have significant war chests and a real commitment to acquiring firms of all sizes.  Having someone like Nigel on the Team, who, having been MD of BNIB, is a real coup for us. He has a wealth of experience under his belt and thoroughly understands different brokers’ appetites for acquisitions, including the due diligence and subsequent integration processes, along with all of the cultural and operational challenges that mergers and acquisitions present. Couple this with Nigel’s strong personal reputation and I believe this pushes us to the forefront of specialist insurance recruitment agencies that offer a bespoke M&A service.

Nigel comments, ‘ After over 40 years in the insurance industry with both insurers and brokers I am really excited about putting my experience and contacts to good use with a great bunch of people at Aston Charles.’

If you would be interested in having an off the record, initial chat with Nigel about Aston Charles Mergers and Acquisitions offering, please call Nigel Law, in confidence on 0845 8388 664.

Promotion for Richard Jones

We are delighted to announce that, with effect from July 2011, Richard Jones has become  a Director of Aston Charles Ltd. Since joining the company two and half years ago, Richard has done an outstanding job of recruiting into the general insurance broking market throughout Yorkshire and the North West. Aston Charles’ Managing Director, James Heald comments, “Richard is one of the most passionate recruiters I have ever met and has gone above and beyond the call of duty to help grow our business and produce some excellent results during particularly challenging trading conditions. I am truly delighted for Richard and there is no one more deserving of this promotion than him.” Richard will continue with his fee earning duties, with additional operational responsibility for our new, specialist Financial Services team. Congratulations Richard!

 

Aston Charles Sponsors the Annual Insurance Institute of Leeds Golf Day

Aston Charles was very proud to sponsor the 2nd Insurance Institute of Leeds Golf Day, which took place on Friday 13th May at Cookridge Hall Golf Club.

This was a fantastic, yet very wet day, which saw 13 teams battle it out for the ‘top spot’ in some of Yorkshire’s most picturesque countryside. A wide range of companies entered, from global insurance companies, brokers, loss adjusters and business continuity specialists, as well as a highly reputable specialist insurance recruitment consultancy! Players ranged from semi pros down to the most inexperienced of entrants, Aston Charles’ MD, James Heald. James ‘learnt’ to play golf especially for the day, having taken a number of lessons with Julia Wilding, Past President of the Insurance Institute of Leeds. James and Julia were part of the team, ‘Diversity’, which despite its huge effort, came last. “I was just pleased to make it round the whole course,” said James in his soggy trousers. “It was the infamous pie and pea supper at the end that kept me going.” It turned out that James had been practising the night before at Cookridge Hall, but had had a rather unsuccessful dress rehearsal. He tells us that he lost a whole pack of new balls attempting to tee off on the 6th over 150 yards of lake, only to realise that he’d been using a pitching wedge instead of a 7 iron. “My coach told me how critical club selection is and I’ve let him down,” said James. Despite Aston Charles’ poor score, the day was still a great success. £1,750 was raised for the Insurance Charities and Leeds Children’s Charity. Some fantastic prizes were donated and won, including golf vouchers, tickets to the cricket at Headingley, luxury hampers and champagne. Well done to J M Glendining Insurance Brokers for winning the competition and thank you to Cookridge Hall Golf Club for being such great hosts. We look forward to seeing you again next year.

Aston Charles Toasts A Great Start To 2011

After a very successful first quarter, the Team at Aston Charles celebrated a great start to the year by spending the afternoon playing golf at Oulton Hall in Leeds.

Aston Charles’ MD and rookie  golfer, James Heald, explains, “Although we’re now officially out of the recession, we’re still in challenging trading conditions. The Team have really pulled together and we’ve witnessed exceptional sales growth in quarter 1, which has far exceeded our forecasts.

We wanted to do something that really rewarded everyone’s efforts, and where better to do than at one of Yorkshire’s best hotels and golf courses? If only I knew how to play golf!”

The team agreed to meet at HQ early and attend to any urgent business matters, in order to take full advantage of the glorious weather that had been promised. By mid morning, they had downed tools and ‘upped clubs’, and were soon enjoying their pre-teeing off refreshments. Despite circumnavigating Yorkshire 3 times, with a taxi driver who clearly had his mind on other things, the Team eventually arrived safely at Oulton Hall, and the competitive nature soon got underway. After a short warm-up on the driving range, Allan Parker soon established an unassailable lead, which he maintained all afternoon,  eventually being crowned ‘Aston Charles Golf Champion – 2011’. As delighted as Allan’s colleagues were for him, they are now petitioning for a rematch as a matter of urgency.

Following golf, the Team enjoyed a bar meal on the balcony of the Claret Jug, aside from Richard Jones, who was still stuck on the 17th hole, complaining about the wrong kind of sand being in the bunker!

James continues, “I really believe in rewarding hard work, and I look forward to even bigger and better events to celebrate our continued successes. To date, our staff have enjoyed some great rewards including hotel mini-breaks, meals out, and spa days and one day, I hope to be lucky enough to win one of these myself!’

As part of its strategic growth plans, Aston Charles is now looking  to expand into other professional services markets including Financial Services, Legal, Accountancy & Finance, HR and IT. If you think your career would benefit from working with like-minded recruitment professionals, in a friendly and supportive environment, and a culture where hard work is recognised and rewarded, please contact James Heald in the strictest of confidence on 0845 8388664.

 

Aston Charles reigns supreme at the Harrogate Insurance Institute Quiz

The Team at Aston Charles were rewarded for braving a trip to North Yorkshire, on a cold winter’s night, by coming first in the Harrogate Insurance Institute Quiz. Held annually at Harrogate’s Rugby Union Club House, the ‘Harrogate Quiz’, as it’s most commonly known, is a firm favourite of the social calendars of institutes across Yorkshire.

Buoyed by a record turnout for recent years, the quiz set off at a frenetic pace, and the Aston Charles Team,  having received ‘10 out of 10’ for the first three rounds, established a firm lead. This is thanks, in no small part, to Bluefin’s ‘Recruiter for the night’ Mark Wilding, who quickly proved himself to be a regular fountain of all knowledge. To his credit, and the rest of the Team’s embarrassment, Mark sportingly offered his team members the chance to answer, before coming up with the correct result.

A sprit of good natured competition soon filled the Club House, with many a joke answer put forward before teams got down to the serious business of putting pen to paper. This includes one hilarious gaff by Aston Charles’ MD, James Heald, who admits that sporting trivia is not his strong point. James boasted to knowing the answer to ‘at which Olympics was the film Cool Running’s based?’ – his team mates’ shocked stares were met with James proudly stating ‘the Winter Olympics, right?’.

From round four onwards, Aston Charles started to falter and their lead all but disappeared over the music round, resulting in a nail biting finish on the few last sets of questions. Fortunately, the penultimate round was on Mark’s specialist subject , History(after Sports, Trivia, People and Places, Literature, Science and Nature….) and the Team from Aston Charles managed to cruise to a reasonably comfortable finish.

Aside from enjoying a pleasant evening with colleagues, clients and friends, Aston Charles were delighted to win the inaugural ‘Julia Pattimore Memorial Trophy’. Julia, who sadly died in 2009, was a prominent figure within the local insurance community, and a big supporter of the ‘Harrogate Quiz’.

James comments, ‘Having worked with Julia Pattimore when I started my insurance career at Smart & Cook, I am honoured that Aston Charles are the first team to lift the trophy bearing her name, and look forward to setting the quiz next year and continuing this fine tradition’.