A south coast-based Gauntlet Appointed Representative is running his insurance business in exactly the way that suits him and in line with his principles as a self-confessed ‘old school’ broker.

Craig Oakes, owner of Oakes Insure in Weymouth, is a firm advocate of delivering face-to-face insurance advice, or picking up a telephone and talking things through with a client if an in-person meeting is not possible. He can typically be found in coffee shops and other venues around Weymouth harbour by day, holding meetings and talking business owners through their risk options. As a well-known local insurance broker within the Weymouth community, this works for him and allows him to remain visible and connected to the business community he serves so well.

Life prior to partnering in his business with Gauntlet Group was as a branch manager of an insurance brokerage in Weymouth. In 2017, when he decided to establish his own business and relinquish a life of working all the hours God sent, for relatively little reward, he was determined to do so with great integrity. He went to great lengths to make it crystal clear to all of his clients that he could not take them with him. Whilst it was a little daunting to start a business from scratch, he had made sure he had a bit of money behind him, to tide him over for the first year.

He also had a good idea of how to market the business, using both social media and his website, and he spent his first few months getting his marketing strategies and online presence together. The great part about being an Appointed Representative was that he had the time to do the necessary planning and business building, because all distractions such as compliance reporting, accounting and administration were being handled by the team at Gauntlet HQ.

As Craig says, “The AR model offers you the best of both worlds. You can start your business and grow it as you wish but you also have all the support that you require behind you. You just need to make sure that you understand what you are signing up for and be careful to select the right Appointed Representative principal.”

Craig’s intention has always been to keep great control of his business and base it around him and his own expertise. He has no ambition to make it grow to a size where he needs to start renting premises and employing staff. He knows that clients buy into him and his levels of service provision and recognises this as his strength, being very much the local broker with national reach that Gauntlet supports.

Whilst he hates the term ‘work-life balance’, he does have a few more hours to relax now, no longer having to stay behind 3 or 4 hours after branch staff have left for the day, just to make sure all is in order. His early mornings, before heading out, are still spent managing paperwork and ensuring he has all he needs for his daily meetings, but now everything is being done to assist his own business, not another.

Craig believes that now is a good time to start a new insurance brokerage. “Despite there being a hard insurance market, if you can make a mark now, you will almost certainly be on an upward curve during the coming years,” he says.

“You don’t have to reach out massively to get business. The market is generally always bigger than you think, even in a relatively small town like Weymouth. There’s no need to start targeting business in different counties; there’s usually plenty to be found on the doorstep.”

His advice to anyone contemplating starting an insurance brokerage and going it alone is to do it through the Appointed Representative route and do all the due diligence required, to make the right choice. He recommends talking to existing ARs and getting their viewpoint, as well as looking closely at different agreements on offer.

“Becoming an Appointed Representative can set you free and give you a means to have the business you have always wanted,” Craig adds. “It also comes without all the hassle of the tasks that tie you down and which are not helping you to build your business, so offers you all you could really want as a start-up business.”