Happy Birthday BIB!
2013 was a very special year for Barker Insurance Brokers, we turned 40! No mid-life crises were had, no fancy sports cars were bought, nor top of the range bicycles (Bicycles are the new alternative to a sports car for a mid-life crisis these days). We celebrated a mammoth milestone by hosting a birthday bash at Hollard’s spectacular Villa Arcadia. Months and months of prepping for this day gave many of us grey hairs and sleepless nights; however along with the trusty team at Hollard helping us along the way, the evening couldn’t have been better. We were joined by family, friends, insurers, partners and clients, many of which who have been along the 40 year journey with us, in celebration this fantastic achievement.
Ken Barker reflecting on the last 40 years…
I must say it is somewhat of a record that we now have 13 members of staff from the 2 original families that started the business in 1973. Clients are amazed that we have so many family members working together, but it has worked for us and I believe it has been our strength over the years.
It is never easy starting a business - it is always a question of survival in the early days. If I cast my mind back 40 years, business was very different in those days. There was ZERO IT equipment - no computers, emails, faxes, copiers or cell phones. Correspondence was via old fashioned typewriters (the old manual jobs) where copies were produced by using carbon sheets between the pages. Any corrections or changes required a total retype. We also had to rely on the Post Office for delivery so business was at a snail’s pace. We often went to the Post Office twice a day to collect mail in the hope that there were some cheques. How different it is today with emails, iPads, smart phones and debit order payments. I must say Bev and I have been very lucky to have 2 sons and 2 daughters-in-law in the business to ensure we have kept pace on the IT front. We probably have the most advanced IT administration system in the broking market today where policy amendments can be done and emailed to clients in minutes which took days in the past.
Rhett Barker had this to say on the day…
This is a proper family business! It’s a bit like working for the Mafia – you can’t resign or get fired! We work and do business with family and friends where the common ingredients are: Trust, Understanding, Commitment, Responsibility, Passion and most importantly we try and have a little fun!
We are niche market brokers with in our opinion the most select group of clients in South Africa. We specialize in short term commercial and personal insurances and currently we insure in excess of R10 billion worth of assets with over 2485 policies. Lily & her claims team process over of 3000 claims per year, totalling just under R100 million.
• We are going to continue with our STAFF FAMILY BREEDING program to ensure that we have enough staff to keep this business going well into the future – 5 new babies in the last 5 years!
• If it aint broken don’t fix it, so there will be NO change in our underlying business philosophies.
• We will ensure that every single client has a dedicated account executive who is available on a 24/7 basis.
• Our client Rewards program grows from strength to strength – We incentivise clients to manage their own risks through our unique NO CLAIM CASH BACK rewards programme which will soon start refunding more than 10% of your premium annually.
• We will continue to invest in the best technology that money can buy. We are busy implementing our new state of the art telephone management system and early next year we will be replacing all our servers.
• We are growing our social media presence with Facebook, twitter and very active website so I urge you to get connected and will keep you updated with emails, sms’s and tweets.
• Our 24/7 BIB Assist roadside emergency service backed by the AA and First Road Emergency will very soon have its own Broker APP where you will be able to view your policy, make policy changes, report claims etc from your mobile phone. This will hopefully be launched early in 2014.
• Lastly we certainly do NOT want to be the biggest; we want to be the BEST.