Many moons ago, ‘non-insurance’ fellow Barry Mamtora (pictured) could have entered some other industry… but somehow his feet led him to the world of insurance broking. In this Q&A, the Forum Insurance managing director looks back at how it all started and talks about the value of honesty and being consistent. He also tells Insurance Business what lies ahead for the family enterprise, which is part of Marsh Networks.
How did your insurance career begin?
Forum Insurance was set up on September 01, 1990, and North West London has remained our home ever since. Forum was created following the acquisition of a small personal lines brokerage in Kenton by a group of individuals who had been made redundant. In fact, we have been located in Kenton for the last 30 years, moving to different premises as the business has grown.
As a trained accountant I wasn’t ‘an insurance person’ and hadn’t sold a policy in my life! Long story short, only two individuals stuck with the plan and 30 years later it is an independent family business employing 12 full-time staff.
The principles of Forum from the start were based on building personal relationships and connections rather than purely the creation of profit. That came naturally… we visited and built a personal relationship with every client – something we stand by today. We started with what we describe as the ‘inner circle’, and the backbone of business growth was based on family and friends.
What aspects of your role as Forum Insurance managing director do you find the most rewarding?
Satisfaction of the client, having advised and provided the right policy for the protection of the business and personal assets, first and foremost. Being honest and trustworthy has built many long-lasting relationships. Many clients have been with us for years and years, and renewal retention is at an all-time high – 97% in 2019, which is testament to all of our staff.
While building Forum, I didn’t look at the money I earned but the relationships I created. The way they looked at us as their trusted advisor. The core foundation of a relationship-based brokerage and not a profit-led broker that so many have become, allowed the business to grow – we win on service.
I have been elected twice as CII president for Harrow and Ealing – something I’m very proud of, meeting some great industry colleagues along the way.
After three decades of trading, what’s next for the Harrow-based business?
Today Forum Insurance is North West London’s leading independent family-owned insurance broker. The continuation of Forum is important and a legacy has been created. My son Amish has been in the business for 10 years and is now joint managing director after successfully taking the business through a period of change, structuring the team to serve its core markets.
Our specialist areas include corporate and commercial business, petrol station forecourts, landlords, wholesalers, retailers, high net worth household, and the not-for-profit sector with a particular niche in places of worship. We insure everything from a one-day public liability policy for a sports club right up to one of the largest crisp manufacturers in Britain. Interestingly, we won that case from an international broker – again based on the principle of ‘service first’.
Persistence, perseverance, and consistency have made Forum what it is today. With four family members at the heart of the business and 12 dedicated staff, we want to build on and improve what I set up – a business where everyone is treated as part of the family. Clients, employees, suppliers, partners, and insurers.
If you were to switch industries, where do you picture yourself?
A new decade is upon us. Where the current market is, the speed of technology, this trade is stronger than ever. Forum Insurance has matured nicely and at my age I wouldn’t want to start again. What we have created is something adaptable for expansion, where the foundations have been laid for something much bigger.
Name one thing your peers probably don’t know about you.
Spiritually I feel very lucky as I had three close shaves when I was younger. I swallowed half a penny and turned blue; fell into a busy road, fortunately falling between the car wheels… just like something from a movie; and while clinging to the railings of a boat was saved by a passer-by as I was about to fall overboard into the ocean.
At the age of just four I had to undergo a 12-hour operation to correct a hole in my heart comprising of 54 stitches.
So to me I must have been blessed more than once…
Today I am in the fortunate position of being able to set up medical camps in Malawi and have been a trustee of a number of charities.
