Joining Gauntlet Group as an Appointed Representative was “undoubtedly the best decision I ever made”, says South Yorkshire-based AR, Andrew Stubbs, managing director of Gauntlet Stubbs.

The Rotherham-based insurance professional founded his own insurance business in January 2015 and hasn’t looked back since, being highly content with a year-on-year organic growth rate of 5-10% and with no desire to grow larger than that or employ other people.

Doing things his way suits Andrew Stubbs, particularly when his way is nothing like the approach adopted by the large insurance brokers and consolidators. He puts his success down to being very much the local person within South Yorkshire, and always being available to clients, no matter when they call his mobile phone.

“My clients have sometimes been with these large brokers and cannot say who is managing their account or how to get hold of them. In fact, they have to speak to someone different every time. When they come to me, they know they can always deal with me and that I will care about their business. With the consolidators, all they got was someone caring only about their commission and earnings, with clients just being a statistic.”

With this personal touch and the commitment to turning quotes around in a very swift way, Andrew consistently achieves a 95-98% client retention rate, with the only losses being businesses that have sold up or closed for some reason.

Whilst he admits that he was fortunate to not be under covenant and was able to bring 12 boxes of prospects with him, Andrew says the box files have never been opened. Some clients just followed him anyway and finding business has never been a problem thereafter.

“Whilst the first year is relatively hard, the market is crying out for local brokers. It is not difficult to find clients, if you put a few hours a day in at first and then keep that sort of approach ticking over. It’s not rocket science. I do no ‘marketing’ as such, I just talk to people and listen to the sort of insurances they might want. I keep a pad and pen with me and note their renewal dates. Those are dates that then stick in my head; in fact, I can drive around the town, spot businesses and tell you exactly when they are due to renew.”

He admits that he was “sick to death” of what he calls being someone else’s “servant” prior to making the move to set up as a Gauntlet Appointed Representative. He was doing the hardest job in an insurance firm – that of making sales – and the job with the least amount of stability and security. Now, he can make his own sales and be his own boss, working as much or as little as he wants to and doing things his way.

Having worked in both underwriting and training, he had a great grounding in a wide number of insurance industry disciplines and was able to talk to people at all levels. He still “cuts his cloth” when handling clients, according to who he is dealing with, tailoring his approach to suit the individuals concerned.

He also adopts a personal approach to risk placement, largely choosing to work with two or three underwriters with whom he has developed a personal relationship, rather than necessarily using the broking support that Gauntlet can provide.

The majority of his business comes from word-of-mouth recommendation and he is always quick to ask existing clients who is based in their building or next door to them, so he can build a pipeline of leads.

Having turned 60 in 2022, he is relishing enjoying life a little more, travelling abroad, whilst still being in full touch with client files and documentation, thanks to the Acturis technology that Gauntlet’s ARs can benefit from. Working from a villa in Spain has already had it’s attractions on two occasions this year.

He is also aware he has a great prospective exit route from the business, whenever he may decide the time is right, with Gauntlet able to buy its Appointed Representatives’ books of business, either in whole or in part and even in a staggered way, to suit the AR’s requirements. One day, the dream of driving a campervan around the world will be realised.

His advice to anyone considering becoming an AR is to do their homework. He initially approached another network, only to find no response when he sent through test quotes. Having learned of Gauntlet and its association with Willis and WTW Networks, he spoke to Roger Gaunt and the rest is history.

His other tip for account executives and sales specialists wishing to set up their own insurance brokerage is to be prepared financially. Not all will be as lucky as he was. Despite not being tied into a covenant, he set some money aside, to tide him over during the first year and would recommend that all new ARs do this.

“There is business and money to be had, if you know how to sell. There just is. You just have to find it,” he says. “The first year is hard but it gets a lot easier and it’s worth battling through. I now handle half the amount of business that an account exec looks after, yet earn more on it and have far less stress. That’s what being an AR is all about. You just have to look after your clients and the whole thing runs seamlessly.”

Having so much experience, with his first insurance role having been with the Prudential in 1982, Andrew has benefited from being able to focus on sales and client relationships, leaving Gauntlet to deal with aspects such as compliance, accounting, money handling and IT.

“Gauntlet has micro-managed me,” he says. “They recognised that I was an honest and trustworthy person and qualified enough to just get on and do things, working with them just when I needed them to be on the end of the phone for me. This is the reason the relationship worked. I’m my own boss and I can largely do everything my way.”