Nigel Wood – 30 years and counting!

Nigel Wood, Managing Director at JM Glendinning Insurance Brokers (Corporate), is celebrating 30 years in the insurance industry. At JM Glendinning, Nigel manages a broad portfolio of clients including partnerships, family run businesses, limited companies, PLCs and multi-national businesses. Here we talk to Nigel about his experience, what drives him and ask him what are his secrets to success: 

How did you start your career in the insurance industry?

I started my career in the insurance industry straight from school in 1987 when I took my first role as a technical clerk at General Accident. I wrote to banks, building societies and insurance companies as soon as I left school which led to a few interviews and ultimately resulted in me getting the role at General Accident. I quickly learned that insurance was for me and threw myself into the job.

What brought you to JM Glendinning?

Having moved to what is now Arthur J Gallagher in Leeds, I built the foundations to a successful career in corporate insurance and continued to develop my client portfolio and industry knowledge. After 23 years, I felt I needed a new challenge, which arrived in 2014 in the shape of an opportunity to head up a new corporate insurance division within the JM Glendinning group.

The business has made £500k in 2016-17 and I have my sights on doubling this achievement within five years, to become a £1million turnover business by 2019.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

Every day is different. I am rarely at my desk as it’s important for me to get out and see clients and insurers. Success goes way beyond doing a good job. It relies on being intuitive and knowing your clients and their markets inside out and always giving them an exemplary service.

What’s the secret to your success?

In my opinion, corporate insurance shouldn’t purely be transactional. It’s a people business, clients want to interact and we give that personal touch to give clients the comfort they need. We try to look beyond the 12-month insurance period, building relationships and looking at longer term insurance strategies. We aim to do a great job, retain client business and hopefully earn referrals through happy clients and confident referrers.

What Nick Houghton, JM Glendinning Insurance Brokers group MD says:

Nigel is incredibly experienced, diligent, reliable and client focused, which made him the perfect choice to set up and grow a corporate division within the group. He is a true asset to JM Glendinning, great fun to work with and incredibly valuable to the business. Once again, our strategy of hand-picking talented people and building a business around them is paying dividends, and we know that with the continued support of the group, Nigel will achieve everything he sets his mind to.