On March 10, we staged our very first ‘mid-term’ AR event – an ‘added extra’ for our Gauntlet Appointed Representatives (ARs), taking place between our much-praised annual AR conferences.

This event was also different because it involved our entire AR support team from head office. It was about us all coming together and exploring how we can, together, make our AR network absolutely zing, further sharpen our service delivery and ensure superb client protection via the creation of the relevant insurance umbrella for each one.

Springboard 2022’s sharp focus on new sales strategies and facilities, as well as the exclusive insurance products at Gauntlet Group’s disposal, was not just about increasing each individual Appointed Representative’s capacity to earn income but also about ensuring every one of them can better-serve their customers and clients.

‘Knowledge is power’, as they say, but with great power comes great responsibility. We want to ensure our ARs all know what’s available to their clients and how they can then get the very best policy wordings and price on the covers they adjudge their clients require. We want all of our ARs to maintain their professionalism at every turn.

Our goal is also to continually make their client service delivery slicker, by empowering our ARs with the very best systems available in the market. Our IT and sales systems are so advanced, however, that we recognise that we need to take our ARs through some of the amazing functionality, with the help of our friends from Acturis.

So this is what Springboard was all about, as we took a deep dive into the exceptional technology at our Appointed Representative network’s disposal, along with all the exclusive-wording policies that they can access for their clients and the vast array of services available to them through our arrangement with WTW Networks.

That is not just about having all the additional access to market and insurance expertise that Willis Towers Watson provides. It also involves the brilliant services on offer through the WTW Networks new digital hub, the Willis Business School and the new Focus on Growth data-driven initiative.

I can safely say that the ‘ideas drops’ and wow-factor moments proliferated in our sessions yesterday and every AR went away armed with a variety of new strategies to deploy in their business, to help achieve competitive advantage.

The event also enabled us to tease our new strategy, soon to be unveiled at a new website, and to talk about our new focus on lead generation for our ARs.

Above all, once again, we brought our ARs together, for a second peer networking session in less than 6 months – something all greatly enjoy.

I think it’s safe to say that we underlined a key point at Springboard 2022 – that Gauntlet Group is the only Appointed Representative network that truly partners in its ARs’ growth. Our ARs’ success is our success, which is why we are now engaging on a process of trialling new initiatives in our incubator unit – our broking and sales teams in Leeds – and then offering our ARs the opportunity to transplant what works well, within their own individual businesses. We are literally incubating for growth.

With all that is soon to come, we are sure many more ARs will be joining us in the coming months – as either start-up brokers, or de-authorising brokers seeking more income, lower overheads and far less stress. We’re ready, we’re braced and we’re totally committed to leading from the front. Now is the time to seize the day in the commercial and personal lines insurance broking sectors and, with the right partner behind them, we know passionate and professional local brokers can do that.