Countrywide to ICC

It's about two years now since Countrywide Insurance Marketing last held a national conference "my, how time flies! They are planning another of these massive affairs for the International Convention Centre in Birmingham on February 27th - a date worth noting in your diary, if previous conferences

The theme of the conference is being summed up in one word, "Inspire", and we could all do with a bit of that. One or two heavyweight personalities are being lined up, I gather, but no details were available at time of going to press.

But what is known is that Countrywide's insurer partners are all putting their weight behind the event, with an "insurer summit" scheduled to take place, involving Andrew Torrance (Cornhill), Barry Smith (Fortis), Steve Broughton (RSA), Mark Cliff (Axa), Tim Ablett (Groupama), and Patrick O'Sullivan (Zurich).

The number one topic on any conference agenda, regulation, also figures on this one. There will be an insight from Alastair Noble, of PricewaterhouseCoopers, on what regulation means for your business, and a contribution from Countrywide's partnerships director, Keith Longthorne, on the group's new regulation support package for members.

Simon Trott and Tony Mellor of Countrywide were in town at Stourbridge last month, to tell me a bit more of the thinking behind plans for this conference. Their conclusion, from talking to brokers and others who have attended previous events, is that more time would be appreciated for face-to-- face meetings between delegates.

Therefore lunchtime, during the conference, is to be extended. It will take place at tables set out in the middle of the exhibition area, with insurers invited to bring members of staff along, to meet brokers over lunch.

The conference is also designed, says Simon Trott, "to show major insurers how vibrant the small broker sector still is".

Not only that, it will, once again, give Countrywide the opportunity to address the perception (which holds good among some) that insurers still need convincing of the merits of dealing through a marketing group, rather than picking its members off one by one. Mr Trott believes that the recent proliferation of broker groupings, of all sorts, has acted to the detriment of established groups like his. Too many are restricting their pitch simply to screwing better terms out of insurers, and that is lending more permanence to the perceptions.

Countrywide continues to look for ways to add value to its service to members, and to their offering to insurers and clients. Details may not emerge at the conference, but I gather that one part of that process is giving members more ready access to markets, both by setting up new deals with niche insurers and by preparing a directory of member-to-member services.