They say that word of mouth is the strongest form of advertising. That’s certainly true for one of Bravo’s latest recruits to the membership, Cheshire-based Barnett Jones & Cooke Ltd, who were attracted to join Bravo Networks after a conversation with one of our longest standing members.

“I know Nigel West from a previous life,” says Chris Woods, Operational and Marketing Director at Barnett Jones & Cooke, about the Fiveways Insurance Group Managing Director. He explains that for him, recommendations can be a powerful way to build trust in people or organisations you’ve not worked with before. “Nigel outlined the benefits of being a Bravo member over an informal lunch together,” Chris says, adding that he finds it helpful to share best practice with fellow brokers. “We’re not in competition, so I wanted to learn a little about how he is running his business.”

“Joining Bravo will give us an even greater insight into what likeminded brokers are doing. It’s helped us to develop our vision for the business.”

The secret social sauce to a powerful strategy

Chris was lured out of retirement last year by the prospect of working with the team at Barnett Jones & Cooke. “I’d spent 12 months following my wife around, and there are only so many times you can take the dog for a walk!” says Chris. “I was ready for something new and had heard good things about Barnett Jones & Cooke. I contacted Michael Barnett, the owner, and Michael-John Parkin, the Sales Director, and said I’d be interested in working together.” Chris has brought a fresh perspective to the business, saying he sees himself as a magpie. “I’ve taken the best bits from what I’ve learned over 45 years and tried to introduce that, and got to know lots of people.”

For Chris, that social aspect is the secret sauce to a powerful business strategy. “It’s interesting to learn what other brokers are doing, we can certainly learn from one another,” says Chris. “Joining Bravo will give us an even greater insight into what other likeminded brokers are doing, and what’s out there in the market. It’s helped us to develop our vision for the business.”

“I’d like to give a shout out to Cathy Hunter from the Bravo Navigator team. She helped us place an auctioneers and valuers risk at Price Forbes with a bespoke policy, and the Price Forbes team moved quickly to deliver the solution we needed.”

“For the first time, we felt we weren’t facing the challenge alone.”

Just six weeks into their membership, it’s early days for Chris to say which areas of the Bravo membership will have the biggest impact. “That said, we do expect the network to have an impact on all four corners of the business,” says Chris. “I’d also like to give a shout out to Cathy Hunter from the Bravo Navigator team. She helped us place an auctioneers and valuers risk at Price Forbes with a bespoke policy, and the Price Forbes team moved quickly to deliver the solution we needed.

“It was a risk we had to replace as it didn’t fit into the existing insurer’s appetite – we’re seeing more and more of that,” says Chris. “For the first time, we felt as though we were not facing that challenge alone. The Bravo Navigator team supported us in that challenge of finding a new market quickly and easily.”

Chris adds that the Barnett Jones & Cooke team have decided to take advantage of a marketing support package to add on to their membership. “We think this year the marketing support will deliver a big impact,” says Chris “It will be interesting to see in 12 months’ time where we are compared to now. We will have a new website, and are looking at branding and other marketing support.”

“2024 is the year we need to reinvent ourselves.”

Reinventing with drive and ambition

Chris says the team are rightly proud of the achievement of reaching their 45^th year in business this year, but that they know they need to focus on the future. “Our business heritage means a lot but we but cannot afford to rest on our laurels,” says Chris. “What served us well in the past may not serve us going forward. 2024 is the year we need to reinvent ourselves.”

Chris adds that a good helping of drive and determination are going to be crucial in pushing forward towards their goals. “Ambition will be the driving force that propels the business forward, coupled with a willingness to take risks and make bold moves,” says Chris.

“Bravo has a bigger toolbox than we’ve got, a ready-made toolkit that we have access to from day one.”

Exploring the Bravo toolbox

Being part of Bravo is going to help deliver their strategy, Chris says. “Getting the tools to enable us to do a better job often doesn’t come cheap! Bravo has a bigger toolbox than we’ve got. If we were to hire or outsource the resource that Bravo can bring to the business, it would be costly and time consuming. Bravo has a ready-made toolkit that we have access to from day one.”

Chris also believes that Bravo’s placement strategy expertise will prove useful. “My expectation is Bravo will help us define our placement strategy, primarily in respect of non-agricultural business,” says Chris. “We’re hoping the power of the network will provide us with opportunities for placement that we’d never have hoped to achieve going it alone. I believe there is scope to grow in the non-agri space and that Bravo will support this.”

“We want a higher percentage of clients to view us as valued and trusted professional advisors.”

Vision + action = success

So after 45 years in business, what are Barnett Jones & Cooke’s ambitions for 2024? The main goal is to be the best version of themselves. “Our main desire is to fully embrace the growing movement towards the advisory space,” says Chris. “We want a higher percentage of clients to view us as valued and trusted professional advisors. We’ve got more of a transactional relationship with some – if they’re looking for liability insurance, we can either deliver it at the right price or we can’t. We will continue to deal with clients on that basis, but we need to concentrate our effort and resources on clients who value the advice we provide, and are looking to us to provide.”

A great example of this, Chris says, comes from a client who said they had lots of manufacturing done in China, and were thinking of bringing it in house. They spoke to Chris to understand the insurance implications. “That’s great, because they consulted us before making the move, and not after,” says Chris. “They started off with two or three machinists and are now up to 16. The client regards us as part of their trusted professional advisors and wants to engage with us on changes they want to make to their business.” Chris adds that this client even invited him to their birthday and Christmas party. “We want to be known for providing a memorable client experience,” he says.

Chris hopes that by working with the Bravo team, Barnett Jones & Cooke will be able to achieve their goals and more. “We joined Bravo with a vision for the business – but vision without action is merely a dream,” says Chris. “We decided to join because we firmly believe that by working together with Bravo, we can go further.”