Diary of an Insurer: NFP Europe’s JP Allcock

JP Allcock, managing director of commercial insurance at NFP Europe, achieves some “me-time” in the gym, talks about two future acquisitions and looks forward to one or two rounds of golf at the weekend.

Monday 

In a role as varied as mine, the idea of a typical week is often alien. However, I always try to start my Mondays with an early gym session to kick off the week in the right frame of mind. 

I go early enough to have the place mostly to myself, so I get a bit of me-time before attacking the mountain of emails that have come in over the weekend.

I also try to keep Monday mornings free from meetings, instead using them to catch up with my managing directors and senior managers throughout the UK and Ireland. 

As well as filling each other in on general updates, we use this time to hold any urgent calls on events that occurred over the weekend. 

Once all the work-related updates have been addressed, chatter does commonly wander to any sporting events or results from the weekend. 

As you can imagine, Monday mornings are rarely without a few jokes at the expense of the Chelsea fans.

This particular Monday afternoon meant calls with insurance press and discussions with two future NFP acquisitions. 

Our acquisition strategy is very important for our growth, and we take great pride in how we treat these businesses and their people from day one. 

Tuesday 

The workday on Tuesday started outside of the office, as I sat down for a breakfast meeting with representatives from Allianz Insurance to discuss plans for the upcoming year. 

Our great industry relationships are what help us to deliver the best possible service to our clients, so these opportunities to develop that rapport (and enjoy a full English) are ones I always make sure to prioritise in my diary.

After that, it was a trip to our office in the centre of Birmingham to meet with our UK apprentices for a Q&A and managing director chat. 

Our apprentices support several key areas in the business, so both NFP and myself are strong advocates of our successful apprenticeship program.

In between the usual hours of calls and the 200 plus emails I expect every day, this afternoon included a brief catch-up with members of our Irish offices. 

When I can’t be there physically, it’s all the more important for me to keep checking in with my colleagues over in Ireland throughout the week.

Wednesday 

Today there was a commercial leadership meeting with my senior team, where we discussed key metrics and results from 2023 and our 2024 budgets and placement strategy. 

It was great to exchange ideas and plans for the year and the team is always really energetic, so this was a perfect way to propel myself over the midweek hump. 

This was followed by the monthly all-hands Teams call with our UK commercial colleagues. I like to involve the whole team in sharing results, news from upcoming acquisitions, systems, and insurer updates - it maintains the strong NFP culture in which everybody plays a vital part towards the business achieving its goals. 

After lunch, I had a few calls with senior executives offering assistance with placements, followed by interviews that ran into the late afternoon.

A client dinner capped off a long day; one of the relished occasions where I get to speak with key stakeholders in a more relaxed environment. 

Getting to know clients on a personal level is crucial to developing successful working relationships, so I was more than happy to squeeze this into my schedule.

Thursday

Thursday was spent in the capital and, as with all London days, it started bright and early with a packed train. 

I had my second breakfast meeting of the week, this time with a Lloyd’s placement broker about capacity and facilities for 2024. 

This was followed by further meetings with insurers and syndicates, before an afternoon call with a colleague in New York regarding an international risk we are assisting with the placement of. 

Client dinners on back-to-back evenings saw me finishing the day in an Italian restaurant, before making it on the last train home by the skin of my teeth.

Friday

Today I was back on more familiar turf as I took a trip to our Bromsgrove office for a meeting with our head of finance to go through January’s results and budgets. 

Having completed several new acquisitions over the past few months, I was involved in a meeting to go through the necessary integration of these acquisitions into the NFP systems. We have proudly refined this to a slick operation, as we continue to grow NFP in the UK and Ireland.

After a week of countless meetings, calls, and catch-ups, my final one is with NFP’s operations director, Gemma Saunders, to discuss events that happened throughout the week and cover things to focus on when we’re back in the office on Monday.

After multiple days of working late and travelling throughout the week, I always try to finish by 5pm on a Friday. 

I make sure I keep my boundaries as best as possible, so my work doesn’t encroach on my typical weekends of relaxing, spending time with my family and usually one or two rounds of golf.