Lloyd’s Marketplace of Interaction and Lloyd’s Pubs
Face to face interactions and trust built upon prior experience are important factors to those working at Lloyd’s. This was my impression about the professionals working at Lloyd’s after visiting Lloyd’s earlier today.
One 2017 article, The Goldilocks Effect: 5 Reasons Why Mid-tier Lloyd’s Brokers Are Just Right for Growth, seemed to indicate that the personal interaction between Lloyd’s brokers and syndicates is extremely important:
Placing specialist risk is complex, requires extensive knowledge, and depends on a series of trusted relationships between the various tiers of brokers, their end clients and underwriters. Because the ambassadorial role of Lloyd’s brokers in managing these relationships is so vital, their bond with wholesale and retail brokers is very strong. These introducers will tend to stick with the individual Lloyd’s brokers they know and trust, choosing them personally rather than as a representative of the company they work for, even where previously preferred panel suppliers are not available to the broker after moving to a different ‘shop.’
Lloyd’s is not about a quick method of getting rich but a place where people work together their entire careers. Reputation for being right and doing the right thing over a long period of time is important. I find it very different than the current climate in the United States where insurance vendors, especially on the policyholder side, are often taught and coached to “scale up” their enterprises for the primary purpose of achieving great wealth in a relatively short period of time.
In a place where people meet and transact business on a regular basis, it is not surprising that the thoughts and ideas about work carry over to social establishments. Pubs are next to and around the Lloyd’s building.
That photo above really is Steve Badger next to me at The Lamb Tavern in the Leadenhall Market next to Lloyd’s. Here is a little history of The Lamb Tavern:
The Lamb Tavern dates from 1780 and has officially been recorded since 1806 – during it’s original coaching days, travellers would take bed and breakfast and respite from their journey before booking ocean passage with shipping companies in Leadenhall Street.
A Young’s managed pub since 1985 the Lamb Tavern remains today an oasis in the heart of the City.
The Lamb has also had many famous visitors in more modern times including HRH The Prince of Wales and various stars from stage and screen such Sir Richard Attenborough, Robert Mitchum, Tom Sellick, and Jack Warner.
John Wayne famously smashed up the bar in the 1975 film Brannigan, Robert Mitchum’s 1983 Winds of War, Lara Croft Sped through the market in Tomb Raider and Harry Potter has been filmed walking through our doors!
Steve Badger and Chip Merlin now add to that Lamb Tavern history by tipping a pint of beer before our soon to be infamous Badger vs Merlin Debate at Lloyd’s.
Some readers are probably wondering which one is keeping the other from studying and making last minute preparations before our debate tomorrow. Since Badger suggested he wanted to have a picture of us together, I think he is hoping he will gain an advantage on me. Time will tell.
Afternoon Thought Of The Day
A pub can be a magical place.
—Rhys Ifans
