This article is by Michael Keating, CEO, Managing General Agents’ Association
Insurance is often discussed as if business flows along neat, national channels. It does not. It moves through local, regional and global relationships: a broker who knows why a manufacturer has altered a production line; an underwriter who understands what that change does to the risk; and two people who trust one another enough to have a candid conversation before renewal.
That is why the regional broker market matters so much to MGAs. Its value is not merely geographic. It lies in propinquity: being close to clients, local economies and the small changes that precede a claim, a new exposure or a growth opportunity. Regional brokers see the protean nature of risk early because they are part of the communities in which it is changing.
General insurance brokers contribute £26.1bn to the UK economy and arrange £150bn in premiums, according to BIBA. Bexhill’s 2026 analysis of more than 3,600 FCA-regulated firms whose primary activity is insurance broking found that London and the South East account for about 40% of firms. Put plainly, roughly six in ten – well over 2,000 businesses – are based elsewhere. The study also records more than 90,000 direct employees and £24.3bn in turnover among firms filing full accounts. Broking is a substantial national industry, socioeconomically as well as commercially.
Vital regional strength
For MGAs, that dispersed strength is vital. Our model works best when specialist underwriting meets first-hand client intelligence. A regional broker can explain the facts behind the proposal form: the family succession, the new contract, the unusual process, the local flood history or the overseas order that changes the risk. That granularity enables an MGA to underwrite with judgement rather than defaulting to a blunt yes or no.
The connection runs both ways. MGAs give brokers access to specialist products, experienced decision-makers and capacity in classes where standard markets may have limited appetite. At the MGAA, more than 90% of MGA members distribute through brokers. Our circa 460 members include more than 250 MGAs, collectively underwriting over £18.5bn of gross written
premium across more than 300 product classes. This is not a peripheral trading relationship; it is part of the market’s load-bearing structure.
Yet access alone is not enough. A product list cannot tell a broker how an underwriter thinks, and a portal cannot build confidence when a risk falls just outside the ordinary. Insurance depends on context. The useful conversation is often the one that begins, “This is slightly unusual, but let me explain.” When the broker and MGA know one another, that conversation starts faster and goes further.
Finding Networking Moments in Crowded Diaries
The challenge is not convincing people that networking matters; it is finding room for it when diaries are crowded and immediate demands keep winning. That makes prioritisation at key moments essential. The right conversation can reveal appetite before a live case becomes urgent, show an MGA where a wording is causing friction or uncover a class of risk that is being underserved. Time spent together must earn its place – and when the exchange is purposeful, it pays back in stronger distribution, better products and better customer outcomes.
This is particularly important across the UK and Republic of Ireland. Regional does not mean parochial. A broker in Leeds, Belfast, Cork or Cardiff may be advising a client with suppliers, property or customers on several continents. MGAs writing UK and international business can give that broker a route to expertise that matches the client’s ambitions. In return, the broker brings the local knowledge that keeps an international solution anchored in the real risk.
The market is changing through consolidation, the rapid adoption and testing of new technology, and pressure on margins. Those forces make strong connections, knowledge-sharing and joint dialogue more important, not less. Efficiency has its place, but we should be wary of stripping the conversation out of insurance. The relationship between broker and underwriter is where nuance is tested, potential misunderstandings are corrected and opportunities become workable propositions.
The MGAA’s job is to create more occasions for those relationships to begin and deepen; and to widen the circle. Our Regional Broker Exchange brings UK and ROI brokers together with more than 40 exhibiting MGAs across a wide variety of classes, written in the UK and internationally. It is built for practical conversations, but its greater value lies in what those conversations may become.
That might be an emerging broker meeting a specialist underwriter for the first time, an established MGA hearing a fresh idea from the next generation of broking talent, or two businesses discovering an opportunity neither had previously considered. Bringing together new talent and new thinking from both the broker and MGA communities keeps our market inventive, relevant and open to possibility.
The real measure of a successful exchange is not the number of conversations held on the day. It is what follows: the enquiry that becomes a jointly shaped solution, the introduction that becomes a trusted trading relationship, and the new connection that ultimately becomes new business. Put the right people in the same room and we do more than exchange business cards; we create opportunities that neither side could have generated alone.
Join us at The Queens Hotel, Leeds, on 15 October 2026. Attendance is free for brokers and MGAA MGA members: Regional Broker Exchange 2026.
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