AXA Commercial announces new SME Trading Centres

AXA Commercial has today announced the creation of two new SME Trading Centres in Bolton and Ipswich

12 March 2019

Posted in Partnerships

Following a successful pilot across National Trading Centre, Scotland and Birmingham branches, AXA Commercial has announced two SME Trading Centres in Bolton and Ipswich
The SME Trading Centres will promote underwriting efficiency and consistency of broker service to remain competitive in a key area of the market
Commitment to branch network reinforced with focus on broker account management, SME (non-digital) new business generation and complex underwriting in mid-market and mid-corporate segments

The move follows a successful pilot across the company’s National Trading Centre and Scotland and Birmingham branches.

The business has grown extensively over the past six years investing in its branch network, eCommerce channel, Mid-market and Schemes propositions and claims services. The creation of the SME Trading Centres is the latest part of AXA Commercial’s Transformation Programme, enabling the business to continue to grow, whilst delivering the best possible broker experience in a competitive market.

The SME Trading Centres will deal with renewal business and mid-terms adjustments for SME policies, which are currently serviced regionally across 12 branches, providing a more consistent and efficient experience for brokers. At the same time, the regional branches will deliver added value to brokers through providing dedicated underwriting resource focused on SME (non-digital) new business and growth in mid-market and mid-corporate segments, underpinned by strong account and relationship management.

The improved efficiency of the new Trading Centres does mean that 106 existing branch roles have been placed at risk of redundancy, although actual redundancies will be less than half of this number as a result of the majority of the SME Trading Centre roles being fulfilled by existing and experienced staff members.

“The new SME Trading Centres are the latest step towards becoming a simpler, more efficient business, in line with our simplification, growth and enhanced broker service agenda. Bringing SME resource together into two Centres of Excellence will promote underwriting efficiency and service, whilst enabling our branches to do what they do best - providing local access to complex underwriting expertise and strong account management. This in turn will enable us to work more closely with brokers to fulfil our shared growth ambitions, with trading relationships continuing to be managed by our branch teams.

“I am confident that this change will improve the consistency of our broker experience. At the same time, we will ensure that we fully support our people that are directly affected by this change.”

— Jon Walker, Executive Managing Director, AXA Commercial

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About AXA UK

AXA Insurance UK plc registered in England and Wales under registered number 078950 and authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority under Financial Conduct Authority registration number 202312. Registered office is 20 Gracechurch Street, London, EC3V 0BG.

AXA UK is part of the AXA Group, a worldwide leader in insurance and asset management, with 147,000 employees serving 94 million clients in 50 countries. In 2023, IFRS revenues amounted to Euro 102.7 billion and underlying earnings to Euro 7.6 billion. AXA had Euro 844 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2023.

In the UK & Ireland, AXA operates through a number of business units including: AXA Insurance, AXA Health and AXA Ireland. AXA UK & Ireland employs around 10,000 staff.

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