Biba 2026: WTW Network sees broker consolidation prompt member exits

The WTW Network is seeing some of its longer-established broker members exit the market as consolidation continues.

That is according to WTW Network’s network service director, Mark Cobham, who spoke to Insurance Times during the 2026 Biba Conference in Manchester.

He said: “There’s still a lot of independent brokers who are of an age where selling is becoming a consideration.

“They’re looking at their exit funds. There’s still quite a bit of that going on with brokers wanting to grow by acquisition to give themselves the scale to negotiate better deals for themselves and their clients.”

He also said there were “concerns about the soft market and the challenges it brings” with “brokers having to work a lot harder to stand still”. 

“Many of our network members are very keen on acquisitions,” Cobham added.

“Lots of them are seeing opportunities for investment from insurers which is great and gives them that capital to make acquisitions. A lot of the big consolidators are definitely hooking off a lot of those opportunities, but even some of the smaller independents are wanting to acquire and are able to do so.

”We’ve certainly seen within our own network, some of our brokers making sizable acquisitions and bringing those in.”

New strategy

Cobham also revealed that WTW Network has strategic growth plans that will be coming out over the next six to 12 months.

These plans will be “game changing” for the network and responds to the current climate for brokers, he teased.

He added: “Part of our proposition is to understand insurer appetite – aligning our network members to the right insurers that we have on our panel.

“This, as well as approaching new markets to bring them onto our panel to make sure that there’s a really broad proposition for the members.”