Proud to be an energetic and highly innovative privately-owned company, Markerstudy Group is generally known for its insurance products, Markerstudy and Zenith. It also features recognisable brands like Auto Windscreens, classic car specialist Lancaster Insurance, and gadget insurance expert Supercover.
Founded by Group CEO, Kevin Spencer, and Group Underwriting Director, Gary Humphreys in 2001, the company achieved a 15-year milestone this year. Gary says being privately owned has set the business apart. Without layers of committees involved in decision-making, Markerstudy Group has been able to make quick decisions and seize exciting opportunities.
“We can deliver. Whereas the experience of some our competitors has been that opportunities can be missed due to the time it takes to bring a new idea or product to market,” he says.
One of the company’s greatest achievements, Gary says, is that it has been able to retain a sense of entrepreneurial spirit as Markerstudy Group has grown to become an industry leader in the UK.
Gary says, “We’ve managed to grow the business to a size where we are comparable to some of the household names in the UK market but we haven’t lost our sense of fun and enjoyment for our staff and also our entrepreneurial spirit to still respond to our brokers needs in a fast-moving environment.”
Innovators in the insurance industry
One of the keys to Markerstudy Group’s continued success is its focus on innovation, which is not normally a top priority for insurance companies.
“Technology has always been relatively slowly adopted by the insurance industry, but with the digital world that we live in and changes coming in the automotive world where most of our business emanates from, we will see digital technology as key,” says Gary.
As an example, I think our insurer-hosted pricing technology is a real game changer for us because it enables us to provide people’s insurance policies at a bespoke level rather than pricing for a whole market segment.
Attracting talent by providing a workplace culture focused on fun
The Senior Management Team at Markerstudy knows the value of investing in its people. Gary says having a high performing workforce has been instrumental in overcoming some of the greatest challenges faced by the company since it was founded over 15 years ago.
“The biggest challenges faced by any growing new business are usually capital requirements and also regulatory challenges. Ours is a highly regulated business where the roles change on a regular basis which requires planning and adaptation to deal with that,” says Gary.
“Overcoming the financial challenges in the early days of setting up the business was certainly achieved with the support of our key partners at the time. Our partners were instrumental in ensuring that we had sufficient revenue strains to continue our growth. And on the regulatory side, we have always recruited the right calibre of people, ensuring that we do everything in the right way, at the right time.”
In order to bring in the level of talent that Markerstudy Group relies on to succeed, the company promotes that working in insurance can be a lot more fun than common stereotypes would suggest — and they have a swathe of awards to prove it.
This year, Markerstudy celebrated its fourth year of success at The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For Awards, once again being named as one of the top 30 ‘Best Companies to Work For’ in Britain as well as having a Gold Standard accreditation from Investors In People.
Gary says, “I think insurance is a misunderstood industry in a lot of ways. You talk to people that think insurance is boring but I think we show insurance is anything but. It can be a really exciting place to have a career.”
Markerstudy Group key facts
- Company name: Markerstudy Group
- Headquarters: Kent, United Kingdom
- Number of employees: 4,000
- Key suppliers: Autonet Insurance, Vizion Network, Holman Fenwick Willan (HFW), A-Plan Private Clients, Carpenters Law
- Annual turnover: £2.5 billion+
- Industry: Services & Consulting