In our latest Spotlight On feature we chat to Colin Donohoe from Lockton Group, the world’s largest independent privately owned insurance brokers.
Here Colin chats to Leanne Fawcett about the company’s global growth and its plans for the future.
Tell us more about Lockton.
Lockton are the world’s largest independent privately owned insurance brokers, with over 6,000 staff in 85 offices worldwide looking after over 50,000 clients.
We are a family run business that was set up in the United States just over 50 years ago by Jack Lockton. He worked hard to convince prospective clients to move their business from larger brokers to Lockton. As a small start up, that was never easy , so when Lockton won a client, we did whatever it took to keep them.
That spirit is ingrained in our culture at Lockton today. Our client retention is over 96 per cent which is 11 per cent above the industry average.
We keep it simple at Lockton. Our focus is on our clients, staff and local communities. What makes Lockton different is the commitment and passion our people invest into delivering results. Our continued success is a direct reflection of our clients’ success.
I previously worked on the insurer side for eight years, working as Sales Manager for two large insurers in the north east , during this time I personally looked after 43 insurance brokers in the region and in my opinion no insurance broker came close to matching Lockton for client satisfaction and competitiveness on insurance needs.
What about your client base?
Here in our Newcastle office we have always looked after clients in the manufacturing and engineering sector. We are however not simply limited to that sector with our clients in the north including Asda, Matalan, ADM, Fenner, Iceland, Esh, European Metal Recycling, Faltec, Northgate, Hermes, PD Ports to name but a few.
At Lockton, as well as our main focus on insurance , we deal in risk management services and also employee benefits for our clients.
Tell us more about your plans for the future
Our plans are to continue to give our clients the best service coupled with the most competitive premiums in the market on all their insurance needs. We are confident that we can make savings for all EMN members and we look forward to working with as many of the members as possible. We have arranged deals with various insurers to provide discounted rates for members of the network.
Within the last few months we have made a six figure sum saving for a local haulage company on their insurance programme as well as saving a local manufacturer over £25,000 on their insurance renewal. We have measures in place to endeavour to make savings for all businesses , no matter what the size.
Lockton recently joined EMN – tell us more about that.
Earlier this year we received some positive feedback from a couple of our clients regarding the EMN and the fantastic work the network is providing for their members. Upon meeting with Ben and Kaye it became apparent that Lockton and EMN would be a perfect fit. We like the way EMN do business , it is different to most other networks and the members are most definitely at the forefront of all decisions made by the team. We look forward to helping members achieve savings in the months and years to come.
Should you have any queries email Colin Donohoe on Colin.Donohoe@uk.lockton.com.