A number of the C&C team attended the British Insurance Brokers (BIBA) annual conference, held here in Manchester, this week, under the theme of Rising to the Challenge #BIBA2023. We asked one of them, Hazel McInnes, who’s been with the Transport Haulage and Logistics team for four years, to give us her take on the event.
Over to you Hazel:
Being a Stockport-based company, I feel it’s important to have a presence at BIBA. I’ve worked in the Manchester market for 23 years so seeing colleagues past and present is very much a highlight. That said, I also deal with the London markets so it’s essential to meet and reconnect with those key partners. Life moves at a pace so networking in this kind of environment where you have the time and space for unrushed conversation, is invaluable.
I attended the conference on Thursday and found the content both informative and inspirational, in equal measure. Some of the key highlights for me were:
Rising to the Challenge
Fearne Cotton headed up this session and I got to meet her just before it started. She’s a very empowering woman and mother and we discussed the importance of having a good balance between work and being a mum.
In this session, Fearne spoke with Joe Wicks, Ellie Simmonds and Alex George about their journey to success and their own experiences with mental health and the link between physical exercise and mental health. They each discussed their own experience with failure and the importance of reframing it as an opportunity. Failure needs to happen for personal growth.
Broking Challenges in Difficult Economic Times
This seminar was chaired by Graeme Trudgill (BIBA Exec Director) and it was certainly a very engaging session. We had four panellists: Broker, Insurer, Claim Management and MGA. The interaction was enhanced through the use of interactive poll questions.
We discussed the lack of human presence within insurance companies, the challenges in the current hard market and how improved e-trade systems could improve the situation. We also heard how the industry is struggling to attract new people into the sector, making recruitment more challenging. Equally, how some employers need to work harder to keep experienced and talented people – retention has never been so important. I was also very happy to see that three of the panellists were women.
The Young Broker of the Year
This year’s award was very special; it had been renamed the Oliver Rose BIBA Young Broker of the Year Award. Oliver Rose was a previous recipient who sadly passed away in March 2023. His mother, Helen Rose was asked to present the award this year in honour of her son. The winner this year was Liam Green of Capsule Insurance Services Limited.
An Audience With Sir Mo Farah
Hosted by Huw Edwards, this was a very heartfelt session and at times it was emotional to hear what Sir Mo went through as a child when trafficked to the UK. He talked about the time when his children were becoming more interested in his early life, which then became the catalyst to open up, which in turn resulted in the documentary. Despite being a household name himself, Huw was very much in awe of Sir Mo!
The Q&As were also very good. Sir Mo was asked, when he goes running with his children, does he ever let them win? The answer was an unequivocal no! One person asked Sir Mo how, in the 10,000m final at the 2016 Rio Olympics, did he manage to pick himself up after falling, and still win gold? His answer? In that split second, he recalled promising his daughter that he’d bring her back the gold medal. That one goal not only got him back on his feet but put him back on his game plan. The man is a legend.
All in all, it was a fantastic event, on so many levels: for the networking, knowledge sharing and inspiration. Well done #BIBA2023 – already looking forward to the next one!
Image courtesy of Hazel McInnes
