Equity Red Star -Investing in leadership

Equity Red Star is a Lloyd’s Syndicate that concentrates on most classes of personal insurance in the UK, including private car, motorcycle, classic and commercial vehicles. It is owned by Cox Insurance, a publicly listed group with over 1 million customers, 2,000 employees and annual premium income approaching £600 million.

Consolidating leadership

Equity Red Star has an unparalleled record of underwriting profit. To maintain its leadership position, the syndicate understood the value of investing in its core team of underwriters in order to stimulate even better performance.

PCL Approach

Working closely with Fiona King, HR Director, and Bernard Watkins, Underwriter, PCL created a Development Centre to determine areas of potential improvement. This was implemented as a two-day workshop that assessed a range of skills and behaviours:

• Technical Insurance
• Strategic thinking
• Leadership
• Teamworking
• Drive and commitment
• Commercial awareness

Feedback was given to individuals and an overall group analysis delivered to Equity Red Star.

Results

• Optimised succession planning
• Creation of an improved style of management
• Individual development plans to optimise performance developed and implemented
• Stronger trust and openness among key team players

Comments

"We had a diverse range of business needs and worked closely with PCL to determine the ideal solution. The results exceeded our expectations,delivering a very favourable return on investment. As a result,the Equity Red Star team is better equipped to increase its already excellent performance and adapt to change." commented Fiona King.

"Underwriting is a people business, where every individual impacts the bottom line," added Bernard Watkins. "The Development Centre continues to sharpen the syndicate's performance, both corporately and as individuals. Initial scepticism has been transformed into lasting improvement. One year on and we are still benefiting daily."

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