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There’s good news and bad news from AXA Commercial.
Good news is, the AXA unit is making headway in its transformation programme, which is aimed towards “the best possible broker experience in a competitive market” amid sustained growth. The business reported having grown extensively over the past six years investing in its branch network, e-commerce channel, mid-market and schemes propositions, and claims services.
As part of simplifying AXA Commercial and following a successful pilot, the growing arm has unveiled two SME trading centres in Bolton and Ipswich which will be in charge of dealing with renewal business and mid-term adjustments for policies of insured small- and medium-sized enterprises.
The goal is to provide a more consistent and efficient experience for brokers by taking over this remit from 12 regional branches.
The bad news is, people will be let go in the process.
“The improved efficiency of the new trading centres does mean that 106 existing branch roles have been placed at risk of redundancy, although actual redundancies will be less than half of this number as a result of the majority of the SME trading centre roles being fulfilled by existing and experienced staff members,” asserted the unit.
Commenting on the development, AXA Commercial executive managing director Jon Walker described the SME trading centres as the latest step towards becoming a simpler and more efficient business. He said this is in line with their simplification, growth, and enhanced broker service agenda.
“Bringing SME resource together into two centres of excellence will promote underwriting efficiency and service, while enabling our branches to do what they do best – providing local access to complex underwriting expertise and strong account management,” explained Walker.
“This in turn will enable us to work more closely with brokers to fulfil our shared growth ambitions, with trading relationships continuing to be managed by our branch teams. I am confident that this change will improve the consistency of our broker experience.”
Meanwhile AXA Commercial offered assurances that those directly affected by the change will be fully supported.
