Broker Network chief executive Grant Ellis is touring the country in a bid to retain members shaken by consolidator Towergate’s impending takeover.
Ellis and his senior team are visiting six regions around the UK after fears that members were ready to leave when the company accepted Towergate’s £95m cash offer to take control of the group.
Other networks have suggested the deal could be an opportunity to poach members, but Ellis insisted that “not a single member” had expressed a desire to leave the network following last week’s announcement, and pointed out that most members are tied into six-month notice periods.
Steve Burrows, Cobra Network chief executive, said: “I think they have got their work cut out trying to make sure their membership stays intact. I know that a few of the members have contacted us and also other [networks]. Hopefully some of them will consider Cobra.”
Ellis and Andy Homer, chief executive of Towergate, have said publicly that network members will benefit from the deal – for example, through improved commissions – but one managing director said his company’s future with Broker Network was at stake.
He said: “If you read between the lines we only get these benefits if we take on Towergate products. I have deals with other insurers that I am not going to lose sight of.
“It could be that Towergate has commissions that are better, but they might not be sustainable in the future. I would go as far to say that these benefits are illusory.
“No one is going to know what these benefits are until people start putting their money where their mouth is. We are going to the presentation, so we will find out then.”
Ellis said that all members would have the chance to ask questions on how the deal would affect them.
He said: “We will be giving them a brief run down of what the business will look like going forward. There will be no changes. We have a new shareholder and that is it.”
He added: “Most members’ contracts are pretty much the same. We do differ the terms, particularly for people that want to tie in for longer periods and Towergate is very aware of that.”
