The British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) conference once again recently took place on our doorstep, in the heart of Manchester at the Central Convention Complex. Many of the C&C team, including from our regional offices such as Bristol, Chester, Leeds, Midlands and Scotland, attended to meet colleagues and insurers, learn from exhibitors and be inspired by a stellar cast of speakers and panellists.
The conference, including Europe’s largest broking exhibition, was opened by host and BBC news anchor, Clive “sun-shiiiine” Myrie, who introduced the event theme of What Next? It’s a good question, as it was applied to a whole range of topics such as: What’s next for insurers, brokers, the economy, AI, cyber, regulation, geopolitics… the list goes on.
A particularly insightful session was What’s Next For Brokers, hosted by Alastair Swift. Here topics such as the unintended consequences of regulation were discussed, along with the impact of consolidation, hybrid working and the reduction of learning through ‘osmosis’, and the inconsistent service levels provided by some insurers.
Other notable names on the bill were astronaut, Tim Peake; Billy Monger, Vicky Pattison, Kate Garraway, David Coulthard, Gabby Logan and Michael Johnson. Not a bad line-up for sharing experiences and inspirational stories!
The event always serves as a melting pot of ideas, innovations, and industry insights, and is a brilliant opportunity to reconnect with familiar faces and also meet some new ones. Many pop-up meetings took place, both on and off-site with plenty more follow-ups planned post-event.
With representatives also there from many of our specialist divisions such as our Claims department, Commercial Insurance, Private Clients team, Professional Sports Protection, Landlord and Property Insurance, Life Science Insurance, Trade Credit Insurance, Transport & Haulage Insurance, as well as from the senior management team, the opportunities to learn and network were hugely rewarding.
Also in attendance was our very own C&C sponsored Sale Sharks, England & British Lion, Tom Curry who was amongst the delegation of visitors to the BIBA event.
Malc says: “The BIBA conference is the flagship event for the insurance industry – huge in scale, but also for the impact it has on relationships between all stakeholders in the sector. There must be thousands of connections and reconnects which come about as a result of this event. The speakers and panellists are also blue-chip; some real big hitters offering real insight into the challenges they’ve faced. In truth, we’d attend no matter where the event was held. But being in our own backyard, we always make the most of it. Huge congratulations to the organisers – it was another amazing showcase of our vibrant and ever-changing sector.”
It’s fair to say that the whole insurance sector has faced challenges as a result of macroeconomics, geopolitical upsets, the COVID-19 pandemic, and regulatory changes, so it seems somehow fitting that the event has made its home in Manchester. Our city has a long history of not only adapting to change but driving it and thriving on it. It’s not only the birthplace of the industrial revolution, and modern computing, but has a solid track record of artistic and business creativity, problem-solving, inventiveness and good old-fashioned hard work.
What’s next? No one can know for sure. But whatever the challenges, the insurance sector is well placed to adapt, manage, and grow through them.
