For our ‘Meet The Supplier’ feature in May, we’d like to introduce… Oliver Sage, Account Executive at Gallagher Insurance, Risk Management, and Consulting.

1. Tell us about your role at Gallaghers, and the part you play.

Gallagher is a leading global supplier of insurance broking and risk services. My role specifically relates to the property and real estate sector — liaising with property owners, managers, developers, pension funds, and family portfolios. Towngate is a pivotal member of our client base, and the two firms have been working together for almost two decades.

2. What’s been a key highlight for your organisation, to get to where you are now?

The specialist property and real estate department has team members dating back to 1997 and has been acquired on two separate occasions after starting as an independent business. Despite these periods of change, the core team and client base has remained consistent. This solidity, combined with new innovation is fundamental to maintaining business relationships and earning our clients’ trust.

3. And what’s next for the business?

Gallagher continues to grow on a global basis and is now a Fortune 500 business, with an excess of 50,000 staff operating around the world. Closer to home, we are keen to expand our team, as well as our client base — as we deliver a personal and bespoke service, every day.

4. Share one word you would use to describe your industry:

Multifaceted.

 5. Finish the sentence: The biggest misconception faced by our business sector is…

That insurance is boring! My typical working week may involve client meetings and site visits, insurer meetings and claims reviews, or helping to place a policy for a large commercial property or thatched cottage. Such variety makes it fulfilling and rewarding.

 6. What advice would you give to someone starting a career within your sector?

You will get out what you put in. The insurance industry doesn’t have the most glamorous reputation, but the opportunities are truly endless. Your first role can lead to fascinating specialisms, such as property, cyber, energy, charities, and education.

7. And the best piece of professional advice you were ever given?

Be a sponge. I have been fortunate to learn a lot from experienced colleagues and I’m now in a position to pay that debt forward to junior members of the team. If you are open minded, take advice on board, and explore things further, it will stand you in good stead.

8. What will be the biggest trend within your business over the next year?

The insurance market, like any financial market, is cyclical. The last few years has been very challenging in terms of a hardening market, claims inflation, benign competition and external challenges like Covid-19, Brexit, and the rising costs of inflation. The next 12 months promise the green shoots of an improving market. From a property perspective — and with Towngate in mind — this will hopefully add value for asset management opportunities and an improved economic scene for occupiers.

9. If you are out of the house, what would be the first activity you opt for?

Being an avid — and long suffering — Wolves fan, I might be found at Molineux. Although more likely, I’m being given the runaround at the park, soft play centre, or swimming pool by my two-year-old son! If graced with some quiet time, I would opt for a nutty brown ale and the newspaper by the river…

 10. And finally, if you could play a part in any movie, what would it be and why?

The no-nonsense Jon Snow, from Game of Thrones. Or perhaps Bond. Cliché, I know, but cool as a cucumber!