**Don’t forget to watch the outtakes!**

Transcript

Brian – Hi everybody – my name is Brian Spinks and I’m Head of Corporate Marketing at Aviva

Tom – I’m Tom Broughton the Editor-in-Chief of Insurance Times

Matt – Matt Stringer – I’m from Bloomfields and the winner of IT Pack 2009

What was your initial reaction when crowned IT Pack member of the year 2009?

Matt – I think initially when I was crowned winner I was rather shocked, slightly intoxicated but was really really pleased, there was lots of talent at the final so to be named IT Pack winner of the year was really really good.

Tom – What was it like with all the other IT Packers on your table – were they equally as intoxicated Matt?

Matt – I think everybody was enjoying the time, enjoying the wine…

Brian – So, I suppose old talent, new talent, middle of the road talent, basic theme – they’re all intoxicated yeah?!

Matt – yeah…! Good old Insurance party….

All laugh

Tom – What did you get out of it then – as an experience?

Matt – As an experience it was really really good, you know, to meet people from Aviva, the Insurance Times, to meet other brokers, to hear concerns that other people had and know that you weren’t the only person with the same queries and questions.

How have you spent the prize money?

Matt – With the prize money I have decided to book a small summer holiday, being 23 I decided to do something quite fun so I decided to book an 18 to 30’s holiday to Corfu!

Laughs

Brian – So that’s the first £100 spent!  What are you doing with the other £900!? Is that drink?!

Matt – Well a week after the awards my car blew up – so it came in quite handy

What would you say to anyone looking to enter this years IT Pack events?

Matt – I definitely recommend it, definitely.  It’s a good chance to meet other brokers and have an informal discussion about relevant topics, so I definitely recommend it.

Tom – Brian do you just want to talk us through how we are working together to reinvent the IT Pack for this year?

Brian – yeah I mean, first of all I think, for us, working with the Insurance Times on the IT pack was a fantastic ground breaking experience, I think from my time in the industry, a lot of conversations that I have had with brokers has been that most people just stumble into this industry, and certainly that sewed the seed in my mind to think about how we can create a programme of events to unearth new talent in the industry and really drive that capability forward and recognise that new talent so 2009 was fantastic we went from one side of the country to the other, up and down the country went to over 100 individuals in the industry but it was just the start of it, I think 2010 is going to take it even further forward, we’ve changed the programme, we’re not going to do as many events, but the events we do are going to be attended by more people hopefully and we are really going to focus on giving that talent that attends those events tools and additional capability so they can go out and really drive their careers and businesses forward so we are going to focus the events on areas such as entrepreneurialism, leadership, customer service and areas like that, and we are going to sprinkle some of our fairy dust around that with the Insurance Times help and we are going to get.. What’s the word I’m looking for?

Tom – interrupts – a few celebs!

Brian – a few celebs! That’s right some celebrities..

Tom – we’re in advanced talks with Levi Roots; Mr Reggae Reggae sauce, Mr.MoonPig.com, Ruth Badger from ‘The Apprentice’ , this is feedback direct from some of the  IT packers and what they want, they want to get some inspirational speakers some high profile business people that they can kind of emulate and we’re also going to bring in some kind of entrepreneurs from insurance, some kind of regional local brokers that have built businesses from the ground so that the new people coming through can kind of learn from their success but also have a community of defined business leaders in Insurance that people can use to bench mark themselves so I think that’s a really powerful format and I think what we are trying to do is build up on the successes of last year, you know I went to Cardiff and I went to the Leeds one.  Cardiff in particular was very passionate, a very passionate group, very sociable group, very boozy group! But I don’t think we should make apologies for that as that’s kind of the beauty of the market really, that people want to do business in that way and get on with each other, I don’t know…  Matt – that seemed to come thorough loud and clear on the night of the awards…?!

Matt – Yes!

Brian – I mean as a group of individuals they really gelled I mean not just as finalists but everyone who went through the programme last year seemed to really gel. We set up a facebook site dedicated to them and I know they’re still in contact with each other and exchanging ideas. The people that came through that programme are potentially our industries future leaders and its great to see and I have a lot of pride in the fact that as Aviva we’ve taken this ground breaking initiative along side Insurance Times and we’ll hopefully see it going from strength to strength in 2010.

Matt – yeah I was really please to see that Aviva has done it, like you say, it was ground breaking really for an insurer to go out there and actively seek the comments from younger people, you know, that’s something that’s quite close to my heart given the previous articles I’ve done for the Insurance Times, its my belief that young brokers are tomorrow’s blood line really so it was definitely well received.

Brian – Matthew; you are the owner of your business as well as emerging new talent, so you tick both boxes, what would you say to other broker bosses who clearly have to give leave of absence to a certain extent to their staff to go to the events and attend these events in 2010. What would you say to them to encourage them to allow their members of staff to do that?

Matt – Well, you know, its great profiling for  their business, its not just the IT Pack member that receives recognition it’s the business behind it, so make that effort and fully support your staff that want to do it, its all about recognising the broker industry and I can’t see the point of not endorsing it really.

Tom – Since you won the award Matt, have you been attracting lots of attention? Do people always talk to you about it now?

Matt – I’ve had a lot of brokers phone and make contact with questions, asking advice and asking specifically about the IT Pack event with questions about next year possibly and how it has helped in the industry. I know its given us recognition, being a one man band the only way you can tell you’re doing your job is by looking at your management accounts and there’s no one there to give you an annual review or a monthly appraisal so to receive that recognition was really heart warming, it was really goods to know that other people thought I was doing a good job but as far as the client facing world goes, its been excellent, its great kudos and its something to mention that peoples eyes do open up and they don’t just see you as a young incompetent broker.

Brian – and is there any truth in the rumour that you’ve used the gold bar to prop open your office door?!

Matt – Well…George Berrie from Aviva very nearly stole in from me on the awards night; I’ve got photographic evidence of him sticking it in his pocket! No its taken pride of place in my office.

All laugh

Tom – So I look forward to seeing you on the 23rd of March for the 1st event at the Sketch Gallery.

 Outtakes……