Blog: Meet the Broker – WRS: Growth for Good

INTRODUCTION

The Broker Insights ‘insurtech’ platform helps brokers to better manage their renewal workflows and optimise customer policy placement with an innovative data-led approach. In the past few years, we have worked hard to grow our broker and insurer base, and embed the Broker Insights platform at the heart of our partners’ businesses.    

To continue to develop the initiative and to ensure that Broker Insights is more than just a tool to help brokers and insurers improve the way they work, we are building a community where our partners can share ideas, best practices and grow together.  

Our partners are at the heart of what we do and we want to share their stories.  Our ‘Meet The Broker’ series allows our broker partners to share more about how their businesses came to be and what makes them stand out.  

BACKGROUND

WRS Insurance Brokers is named after its founder, William R Sawtell & Partners, who in 1966 set up their business to cater for the life insurance, pensions and general insurance needs of the people of Romford and North Essex.  As the surrounding area grew over the years, so too did WRS, and in 1995 they merged with another local broker and moved to larger premises in Colchester, where they reside today. 

A CHARITABLE ORGANISATION

Fast forward to the present day, and WRS has come a long way from where it began. They now turn over more than £3m annually and are members of the British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA) and Broker Network. They have also refined their specialisms, which are now predominately in the third sector – charity insurance, church insurance and other non-profit organisations.   

To ensure the products they source for their clients are morally aligned with their beliefs, WRS take great care to ensure that they only work with insurers who are not only financially sound but are also ethical.  

In October 2020, WRS was acquired by SEIB Insurance Brokers, whose parent company, Ecclesiastical, are one of the largest corporate donors to charity in the UK, contributing to thousands of good causes in this country and abroad. This focus on charity and giving back to the community supports WRS in becoming an attractive partner for so many businesses in the third sector. Company director, Chris Chapman says:  

“I believe that my personal Christian faith is seen as a huge benefit to many of our church, charity, community and care clients. As a company, we really try to empathize with the mission statements of charities and non-profits, whether that be through additional support via sponsorships or donations, or simply through the tailored support we provide.”  

WHAT’S TO COME?

Chris has set a firm goal to maximise profits year on year so that charity and giving can continue to be front and centre of what WRS is all about.  

To achieve this goal, WRS puts a great deal of stock in the overall client experience. Their ethos is to help clients through all stages of the insurance buying journey and to be a long-term partner rather than simply a middleman for policy renewals. WRS is always looking at ways to improve its systems and processes so that it can provide its clients with the best customer service.   

For WRS, the future certainly looks bright. With steady, organic growth of 5-10% each year and over 50 years of experience providing insurance and risk management services to their clients, it is clear to see that WRS understand and appreciate the issues faced by their customers from a funding, compliance and volunteering point of view, and are fully committed to helping them to find the right solutions.  

Find out more about WRS here: https://www.wrsinsurance.co.uk/