JM Glendinning leads the way: Investing in tomorrows insurance professionals

A new business launches this month providing Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) training to help the region’s insurance brokers fast-track young talent.

Professional Insurance Training Ltd, which is preparing to run its first courses in Yorkshire this month, offers accelerated learning for the entry level Cert CII qualification, enabling apprentices and trainee insurance brokers to get their careers off the ground much more quickly and making it quicker and easier for the region’s brokers to train young talent.

The initiative is the brainchild of insurance broker JM Glendinning, who has teamed up with leading ac
ademics to develop and secure accreditation for the new programme.

The programme will be run by Alister Myatt, an experienced professional development consultant with 17 years of programme management experience in business related qualifications in SME and blue-chip organisations including O2, NatWest, Lloyds Banking Group and Warner Hotels. Alister has run programmes across the UK and managed vocational training at Leeds City College for 15 years. He is currently a consultant on a range of education projects for the OCR examination board.

JM Glendinning managing director Nick Houghton believes that it’s currently ‘far too difficult’ for firms to train and upskill young people to create the insurance industry leaders of tomorrow: “Despite the UK being the third largest insurance market globally, the government has been woefully inadequate at providing the training required to get young people into insurance careers,” he says. “Our industry is being hit with the apprentice levy, just the same as other sectors, and yet there’s nowhere in the region offering classroom-based training for insurance apprentices.”

Nick says there are many firms just like his who are keen to invest in and develop talent, but are finding it too difficult to access the right training. Previously, a number of colleges in Yorkshire and the North East offered part time, day release courses, which allowed trainee brokers and apprentices to combine on-the-job training with their Cert CII studies.

“Those days are long gone, and the only option is online distance learning, which takes around 18 months to complete. This is simply not meeting the needs of employers or trainees, who want to add value to their business or role – and do it quickly,” says Nick.

“What we’re offering is an approach to training that’s in tune with the demands of a modern-day career in insurance. The accelerated, 12-day, classroom-based courses not only help people pass their exams, but retain the knowledge they have acquired. What’s more, they enable trainees to learn alongside their peers and form the all-important connections that will help them build their networks as they move through their careers.

“Employers also benefit from the accelerated pace of the programme, upskilling trainees and apprentices quickly and effectively, through a course that it is designed and delivered by specialists and purpose-built to fit in alongside the day job. It really is a win-win.”

The Cert CII is the entry level to formal insurance qualifications. The Professional Insurance Training team will run a number of pre-arranged intensive Cert CII courses across Yorkshire and the North East over the coming months, and can also run the programme within large firms looking to train a significant number of employees at once.

For more information visit www.professionalinsurancetraining.co.uk.