Beyond the call of duty

In a competitive commercial market, Gary Head explains how understanding the challenges facing small businesses is critical for brokers looking to increase profits and maintain a healthy customer base

Small businesses are the backbone of the UK's economy, contributing half of its gross domestic product and providing employment for a large proportion of the working population. Despite being an unsung economic powerhouse, however, the threat to their ongoing profitability has never been so stark: growing bureaucracy and stifling regulation, combined with taxation and a weakening economy, are wreaking havoc on the sector.

Against this gloomy backdrop, the insurance industry - brokers in