Paul:    Yes, I’ll do a guest blog, but only if I can do a special one.

Brigid: Paul, what do you mean, ‘a special one’, special like the Canadian Hockey Team? (Brigid Murphy)

Paul:    No, although they were impressive.

Brigid: So what have you in mind?  This isn’t an attempt to use the blog to promote Specialist Lines is it Paul?  The blogs are meant to inform, not promote.

Paul:    Yes, I realise that, although I would just like to mention that as I’ve travelled around the country recently, Perth, Birmingham, London, Southampton, Plymouth, Exeter and Bristol I’ve also met some of my teams in Professional Indemnity, Marine, Engineering and bumped into the Bonds, D&O, GPA and Latent Defects teams.  The breadth and depth of their knowledge and expertise is mind blowing.  They are a special bunch and at times unsung heroes.

Brigid: Paul, get to the point.

Paul:    OK, well I was in the pub last Monday and we were having a warm down session after my keep fit class.

Brigid: Paul, is this relevant?

Paul:    Yes.  Anyway we got talking about football and Jose Mourinho came up – you know, the ex-Chelsea Manager, now Inter Milan.  Well he regarded himself as ‘the special one’ and that got me thinking………..

You see, he was good, knew his job, was a skilled coach, and understood his business.  He had real self belief.  He might have overdone it occasionally, but he really got results.

I think the people we work with are a bit like that.  Special I mean – but more of the shrinking violet side of this, only we don’t perhaps tell everyone how good our people are.

So, as the blog is about informing, rather than promoting, I’d like to do a special blog about our staff, and just inform whoever reads this that our people are pretty special too.

Is that OK?

Brigid: Yes it is, our people are special.

Paul:    So, there it is then – my special blog.

Paul Charlton, Aviva’s Head of Trading for West, South Wales and Specialist Lines