Independent brokers may be vanishing from the insurance landscape, but Peter Robinson is not going quietly. The founder and managing director of Prizm Solutions Limited remains adamant: for SME clients, independence is not just a differentiator – it’s a duty.
“It’s about giving clients what they actually need,” Robinson said, speaking from his Staffordshire office. “When brokers limit their insurer panels or rely only on e-trade, they miss the chance to tailor cover to the client’s real business model. That’s a loss.”
He’s seen it too many times. The bespoke nature of smaller firms, scaffolding operations with cafés on the side, or family businesses with evolving footprints, simply doesn’t fit the templated model that many larger brokerages now offer. For Robinson, that’s where independents like Prizm come into their own.
Robinson traces much of this flexibility to deep market knowledge and strong personal connections, especially with managing general agents (MGAs), which often provide the creative underwriting solutions larger insurers won’t touch.
“I’ve seen brilliant underwriters leave big firms for MGAs because they want to be more flexible,” he said. “And we follow them.”
That agility, he explained, makes all the difference for risks that don’t tick the right boxes on automated platforms. “We do the job properly. We prepare manual presentations. We get quotes the old-fashioned way. A recent case – e-trade quoted £1,500, we did it manually and got £600. That’s the real value.”
In his view, brokers must “actually use your brains to find the right market,” not just hope for a quick digital quote. That market may be with a lesser-known insurer or an MGA operating outside e-trade, but it's often where the best solutions live.
The challenge, of course, is that this kind of brokerage is getting harder to sustain. According to Insurance Nerds, the number of FCA-regulated retail brokers in the UK has declined by 46% since 2006 – a trend driven largely by consolidation and increasing regulatory burden. And while brokers once controlled about 90% of the micro-SME commercial market, a 2017 Applied Systems report shows aggregators now account for 40%.
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“That’s what happens when overheads rise and compliance eats your time,” Robinson said. “It becomes harder to justify independence if you’ve lost your agencies or you’re doing admin 20 hours a week.”
For many small firms, independence ends not with strategy but fatigue. Succession gets messy. Time becomes scarce. Offers start sounding reasonable. Robinson’s had plenty.
“It’s rare a week goes by without someone asking if I’ll sell,” he said. “We had a succession plan, but that’s changed. So I tell them: I’m working till I drop dead. Talk to my executors.”
But the issue runs deeper than personal willpower. To Robinson, selling the business would mean failing people who’ve trusted him, not only staff but clients, some of whom go back three generations.
“There’s one client family we’ve insured since 1963. My dad did it before me. Now I’m working with the grandson,” he said. “We see each other outside business. If I sold to a consolidator and handed them over to some call centre, I’d have to face them at the pub. That’s not who I am.”
He knows what usually happens after a sale: centralized operations, job losses, clients reassigned to unfamiliar handlers. “The lady who answers the phones, the person doing accounts, they’d be out. And they’re not just colleagues. They’re friends.”
For Robinson, the core difference between independent and conglomerate broking comes down to something basic: personal accountability.
“Consolidators do a good job for what they are. But it’s like the corner shop turning into NISA. You lose something. You become a number, not a name,” he said.
Prizm Solutions, by contrast, continues to run on names. Robinson can call most clients directly. He knows their operations, their history, their quirks, and they know him. That relationship makes it easier to have the hard conversations, ask the right questions, and spot what’s changed from one year to the next.
“SMEs don’t think about insurance day to day. It’s not their world. I’ve walked into factories and found half-a-million-pound machines no one told me about. If I hadn’t gone in person, it wouldn’t have been covered.”
It’s why he puts such weight on renewals as a moment of reconnection. And why he doesn’t dismiss small clients. “The biggest client I ever had started with two men and a used Rover. They ended up with 25 sites and 100 cars. That’s why you look after acorns. Some become oaks.”
Despite the pressures, Robinson is clear about his path forward. He won’t be selling. He won’t be scaling back. And he won’t stop believing that small brokers can still offer something that larger firms can’t.
“We’re independent. We’ll stay that way,” he said. “Maybe I won’t get rich. But I’m not poor. And I get to wake up knowing I still add value to people’s businesses. That’s worth more than a quick buck.”
For SME clients seeking truly tailored advice, and for brokers wondering if the fight is still worth it, Robinson’s answer is firm: “We care. We’re accountable. We know your name. And we’re not going anywhere.”
