Interview with Crawford Boyd
In the insurance market place it is often about the personalities you do business with. We believe it is important that we help you understand who our personalities are, what their areas of expertise are the things that are important to them. To facilitate this we asked Dr Roan Lavery of Net Resources to ask a few pointed questions.
Interviewer (Dr R)
- Congratulations on getting the new web site up and running, do you expect there to be a massive boost to turnover now it’s launched
Crawford Boyd (CB)
- It’s just good to get it sorted at last. It’s been a big idea for far too long but our new marketing guy did a great job pulling it off.
Dr R
- I want to ask everyone a few pointed questions so that visitors to the site can get an idea about the people at Premier
CB
- Great – fire away
Dr R
- Where do you see yourself in 10 years
CB
- I enjoy what I do right now and if I’m lucky enough to be sitting in this seat in 10 years time I’ll be perfectly happy, I’m
Dr R
- Are you hugely ambitious for your company
CB
- I do believe there is much work to be done. We purposely set the department structure up 3 years ago to attain the best possible results from our staff; we split it into broking, underwriting, customer services & finance, and marketing and this way we can play to individual strengths. The insurer partners also like the binding authority business controlled by trained underwriters rather than brokers and I like that the brokers get to push the underwriters without being able to prejudice the profitability for the insurer. This market will harden up again my aim is to ensure that all our product lines survive the culling that will inevitably follow.
Dr R
- Any particular message you’d like to send about the company
CB
- Just to give us a try, we’re not your typical wholesale broker – we don’t write any adverse or non-standard business and because we’ve got some exclusive niche markets many of our brokers find us useful too either attack a piece of business or to tuck a case away from conventional markets
Dr R
- Who’s your favourite insurer
- I do have a particular favourite but I’m not putting it in print, imagine the fall out with the others let’s just say they know who they are and one day we’ll be able to set a target and hit it because the market will have turned
Dr R
- So who would you most fancy going for a beer with
CB
- Sadly he died in 2002 but John Thaw would have been great, especially in one of these little village pubs with a good warm pint. Someone still alive – that I don’t already go for a beer with – probably Bill Clinton, I read his autobiography last year and despite the great stories from the tabloids he’s really a remarkable man.
Dr R
- What do you do in your spare time?
CB
- I don’t have any! I started a law degree a couple of years ago so I’m currently studying Constitutional and Criminal Law, it’s a bit of a battle keeping everything up to date, the business is quite demanding on my time and I have a wife 2 daughters and a son that could always do with a bit more attention although I’m not so sure my teenage daughters want much to do with dad these days. I’m also a season ticket holder for the best football team in Scotland and I look forward to seeing what le Gaffer brings us in silver next year
Dr R
- What’s your golf handicap
CB
- I can honestly say I’ve never played the game, most of my insurance friends think I’m really uncultured. When everyone was learning to play golf I didn’t have time because of martial arts training 3 nights a week and I’ve never got round to learning now that I’m too old and fat to fight. Maybe next year.
Dr R
- What would you buy if you won the lottery
CB
- Believe it or not I rarely even buy a ticket but if I won a load of money I’d donate most of it to Glasgow Sick Kids who looked after my son so well when he was having a tough time a few years ago. I might keep a bit back for a new Jeep.
Dr R
- What do you drive
CB
Grand Cherokee Jeep Overlander – the best off road 4x4 and a real rugged car
Dr R
- Finally – your philosophy on life
CB
- What do you mean the glass is half full it’s filled to the top, tomorrow’s another day enjoy today whilst it’s here and no it can’t be my round again