It has been three and a half years since Broadway Insurance Brokers launched on to the scene of the UK insurance market, underscored by CEO Daniel Lloyd-John’s vision of reshaping clients’ view of insurance from a ‘reluctant expenditure’ to a ‘strategic enabler’.
Looking back, Lloyd-John (pictured) noted that the firm’s focus on trust, transparency, professionalism and building strong client relationships had kept the business in good stead as it evolved in the context of the COVID crisis and its widespread disruption to UK businesses and communities. Certainly, the specialist firm has gone from strength to strength, now commanding almost £12.5 million in GWP and looking after in excess of £2 billion worth of assets on behalf of its customers.
Digging into the key metrics that underpin Broadway’s success he highlighted that insurance brokers typically judge themselves on organic growth and retention.
“Our retention is at 97% across the group and that’s across corporate, private clients and now healthcare as well,” he said. “And we are continuing to deliver really strong organic growth. So, the economist and the insurance broker in my head say we’re doing the right things in the right order. For me, the most exciting moves we made last year were our sizeable investments in oversight and governance, and the launch of our healthcare division.”
Strategic, temperate and mindful growth is at the core of Broadway’s ambitions, Lloyd-John said, and he firmly believes that growing in the right way is more important than growing for the sake of it. It’s this focus that has allowed the business to put the right operational infrastructure in place to support its plans, and also to allow the team to maintain the values of Broadway as it continues to evolve.
“It all goes back to when we started the company,” he said. “And I want to compliment the Greater Manchester insurance market and how every sub-sector and sub-segment of the insurance marketplace is now represented at scale across Greater Manchester, from the world’s largest insurers to some really niche, innovative players that help us deliver what we do for clients.”
“The cultural framework at Broadway is one of togetherness, there’s no doubt about that,” said Lloyd-John. “What we have managed to do is attract high-performing, high-potential professionals who had more to offer with us than where they were previously. It’s that which I think created the psychological safety for them to leave much larger organisations – as we typically, though not exclusively, hire from the top six brokers – because they want to be part of our culture and contribute to our culture.
“[…] Having started at the beginning, from scratch, rather than acquiring a business and trying to piece a culture together from that has been a real opportunity. That’s what can go wrong with our industry, we squash the good bits of firms, when they’re put together with other ones. What Broadway is trying to do is open architecture, which gives people the confidence and conviction to bring something to the party.”
Overseeing the progression of Broadway has been especially fascinating as it follows a similar trajectory to how he has developed to become the leader of a growing business, Lloyd-John said. Now three and a half years into his role as CEO, he highlighted that there’s little anyone can say or do that really prepares you for what it means to lead a business. What has become clear, he said, is the value of having a great network around you but also the role that passion – and your own personal values – play in helping you put the right structures in place.
“I think Broadway came out of a want to help people climb further and further, and achieve new heights together,” he said. “Our growth is centred on helping people make the right decision in order to reimagine their careers and contribute more. And that’s my view on becoming a CEO. I think there’s three key lessons I’ve learnt to date. One, don’t make it about you. Two, taking outside perspectives is key. And three, enhance your learning agenda.”
For Lloyd-John, combining the outcomes from these lessons has been Broadway’s “secret” which fundamentally boils down to never letting ego be a factor in how a business should be run and how clients should be supported.
Lloyd-John emphasised that any strategic growth decisions are part commercial, part emotional and part strategic – and with that in mind, shared there are four priorities at the root of the firm’s growth plans for 2024.
The first of these is around talent, he said, and ensuring that the business continues to attract and retain the right people to support its customer base and trading partners. Meanwhile, he said, the second is culture which is inextricably linked to talent and the underlying question of maintaining and nurturing the ethos and values which drive Broadway’s ambitions.
“The third is social purpose,” he said. “Because if we get clear on how to do this job with social purpose in mind, actually it makes people feel great and so, we feel great. And the fourth would be operational design. So, if the combination of talent, culture, social purpose and operational design are front of mind and to a certain extent, in connection with each other and aligned, then I think we’re well placed.”
