Start-up The Yorkshire Broker targets SME

The new broker, which will specialise in property, business, and hospitality insurance, was founded by managing director Martin Weaver-Parker and commercial director Phil Hodgson, both former employees at Lockyers.

Its headquarters will be in Castleford and the firm currently has a headcount of two, with the prospect of adding another member of staff this year.

Weaver-Parker detailed that the main challenge of starting-up was the authorisation process conducted by the Financial Conduct Authority.

He said: “The FCA application alone took eight months from start to finish, so that was difficult and frustrating. It was the main challenge, because it was a lot of waiting and there was a lack of communication from them.

“However, I joined as a member of the Hedron Network and they helped through the process, so they’ve been brilliant.”

Just last week TheCityUK criticised the regulators’ “slow, inefficient and unpredictable” authorisation processes.

Weaver-Parker stressed that it is especially difficult for start-up brokers who want to get their foot in the door but are still waiting to be approved.

On the other hand, the managing director stated that he was surprised by the amount of support he received from friends, family, contacts and people within certain networks.

“People were coming to us, wanting to help and get us established, that has been a real surprise,” he recalled.

GWP target

Commenting on how the firm is planning to hit its £1m GWP goal, Weaver-Parker said: “In the last 12 months we have already built a pipeline. So, we have been able to put out some modest figures.

“We have a lot of plans around marketing, local marketing, and national marketing on certain products. We have plans for social media, joining networks and continually building that pipeline and relationships.

“We did a soft launch in January and the responses from that were positive and more than expected. If we stay on this trajectory then we will hit that GWP target.”

He revealed that by the end of this year he would like to see the business reach £500,000 of GWP and have the brand established.

Understanding businesses

According to the leader, the new offering will focus on understanding businesses and making they are protected.

Weaver-Parker said: “We know that business leaders have enough to do without worrying about what happens if they’re faced with the unexpected.

We want to make sure that businesses are protected, leaving leaders to concentrate on building success, not worrying about failure.

Martin Weaver-Parker

“The last few years have been disastrous for some businesses. We want to make sure that businesses are protected, leaving leaders to concentrate on building success, not worrying about failure. Our economy needs growth and we’re giving businesses the confidence to do that and we’re making it personal.”

Additionally, the directors are committed to giving back to the community and are looking to work with various charities and organisations with plans to duplicate past fundraising challenges such as the Great North Run and the Yorkshire three peaks.

Before the start-up

Previous to The Yorkshire Broker, Weaver-Parker was managing director of the commercial insurance broker, Lockyers Insurance, for three years.

Initially, Weaver-Parker did not have plans to start up a company, but after Lockyers was sold to Broker Network Partners in 2018, he thought the company had lost its identity within the corporate insurance world and so decided it was time to start-up a broker.

Hodgson also previously worked at Lockyers as an account executive for six years. Before Lockyers he was the business manager of SMEi, Marsh for four years and prior to that he was sales team leader at Gallagher Heath.

Weaver-Parker and Hodgson are not the only ex-Lockyer employees to start-up a broker. In December 2022, former chairman Jon Newall revealed that he was launching Prosura this month, a broker focused on SME business.

For all the latest industry news direct to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.