Briefing: Starting a broker from scratch? I would do it all again

Setting up an insurance broking business has been the hardest, most mentally challenging emotional rollercoaster of my career. I would do it all over again.

I had always wanted to run my own business, but it didn’t occur to me that I could be brave enough to set up on my own.

For years, I worked really hard for my previous employer, did the extra unpaid hours and maintained a solid client base with a great retention rate, while quietly calculating what my salary would be if these clients belonged to me.

After staying in one firm too long, I started to look around the other brokers in the market, picturing where would best suit me. This was in 2019, so pre-pandemic and before remote working was the trend, meaning I was looking at firms local to me.

Each broker website sounded similar to the next – lots of text and insurance jargon that sounded professional but didn’t mean anything.

They didn’t give any tangible guidance on what they stood for, what made them different or, in my opinion, speak to a client in a language they would understand.

At this point, I was looking for a senior role, but it had to be the right move – one where I would feel proud of the LinkedIn post announcing my new position.

The problem was that company didn’t exist and so this was the moment that I decided to create it – as cheesy as that sounds – motivated by the mantra that it was better to try and fail, than always wonder what could have been.

Seven years down the line, my business has grown year-on-year, created employment, supported staff development and won a few awards along the way.

But since 2022, FCA stats show that approvals of new appointed representative (AR) relationships have fallen from 2,723 to 1,494 in 2025, with direct authorisation applications also falling from 244 in 2022 to just 89 in 2025.

The industry needs new entrants to challenge the way things have always been done and to bring fresh ideas – that is why I wanted to share my story.

This is part one of my ’How I grew my Business from Scratch’ series.

Directly authorised or AR?

Going directly authorised from day one was not an option for me.

My fear that the FCA could contact a current employer within a few weeks of submitting an application for a character reference made me feel physically sick. I’m not sure how they expect anyone to still be employed after that conversation.

When I was setting up the business, FCA applications for direct authorisation typically took between six and nine months to process. At the time, the youngest of my two children was just four months old and so going without a salary for that length of time simply wasn’t an option.

The quickest and easiest route to market was, therefore, to become an AR. The process took less than a month all-in and in December 2019 I began trading.

There are some fantastic AR networks available and, on paper, joining one made perfect sense. The support, infrastructure and back-office functions they provide can be a huge benefit for a start-up broker.

But I always had a longer-term goal in mind – becoming an AR was never intended to be a permanent solution, it was a stepping stone to direct authorisation. Because of that, I was determined not to lose touch with the insurers and underwriters that I wanted to build my business alongside in the future.

Maintaining those relationships was important to me. Also, I didn’t want to relinquish control of the broking. Being a bit of a control freak, I wanted to know that every risk had been presented properly, every option had been explored and the very best deal had been negotiated for the client.

If I handed that responsibility to someone else, would they push as hard? Would they challenge underwriters in the same way? Would they go the extra mile to secure the right outcome?

Maybe they would, maybe they wouldn’t, but I wanted the confidence of knowing it had been done to the standard I expected.

Those years as an AR were certainly interesting. As the business grew, the amount I paid to my principal firm reduced, which was a welcome sign that things were moving in the right direction. What surprised me more, however, was the attitude of parts of the market.

On more than one occasion, I heard the phrase, “Oh, you’re just an AR”.

It was often said casually, but it revealed a perception that being an AR somehow made you less of a broker. I never saw it that way.

Clients didn’t care whether we were an AR or directly authorised. They cared about receiving good advice, strong service and the right outcome. The reality was that we were doing the same hard work, building the same insurer relationships and delivering the same value to clients as any other brokerage.

The tipping point came when I was paying away more commission to the principal firm than it would actually cost to be directly authorised – and trust me, I refreshed this spreadsheet daily!

That’s when I knew I was ready to move forward with direct authorisation status.

In part two of this article, I will share my experience of moving from the comfort of being an AR to navigating the compliance, software, insurer agencies and infrastructure needed to go directly authorised.