Romero Expert Insights Series: Goals

As part of our 2023 insights initiative at Romero Insurance Brokers, we will be highlighting team leaders across the Romero Group. Over 12 months, The Romero Group will showcase 12 important figures, each from different departments and different disciplines.

Twelfth, and final, in our Insights Series is Justin Romero-Trigo. Justin is the CEO of Romero Insurance Brokers and NDML. He founded the business in 1997 and has led the company to three independent broker of the year awards. Justin has utilised his innate drive and passion for sales, growing the business as well as the team that assists him. He recounts his own pathway through the insurance landscape, what drives him, and what similar drives he likes to see in others when recruiting. He notes challenges and also reflects on what possibly motivates someone who is at the top of their game.

Please can you briefly recount your career pathway

When I finished college I had the chance to go to Leeds University to do an Economics degree. But a friend of mine recommended broking. At the time, Sedgwick James was one of the premier brokerages and were advertising an A-level trainee position, which I applied for. I spent some time in claims, broking, account handling, and then latterly working on new business with the sales team. Sedgwick’s sent me to London, to Lloyds, to Newcastle, and to Manchester – so I got a wide and varied start, it was a great training ground.

I then went on to work for Hart & Company, ran by Tony Hart, who was a talented and eccentric salesperson. They had major accounts including Persimmon Homes, Barratts, Tay’s – to say they only had a handful of staff, these were prestigious accounts. From Tony, l learned about his philosophy around broking, his attention to detail, and the importance of the claims function. Something that stuck with me was what the CEO of Persimmon Homes told Tony one day: “Since you’ve had our business, I’ve never gone to sleep worrying about insurance.” In the future I would always endeavour to make all my customers feel that same way.

After three years, Hart & Company gave me 5% shares, so I became a director at 26 years old. I had brought in a lot of new business and sales, so it was in recognition of my work. Unfortunately six months after I got the shares, Yorkshire Bank was taken over and they recalled our overdraft, meaning the company had to be put up for sale. This was a life lesson in debt management, which ultimately drove me to build our business with no debt. I gave my shares back – I could have stayed as the sales process had gone into limbo – but I decided to start up on my own. So, with a £5000 kitchen loan, no income, no days off for three years… the ability to build a business from the ground up was what spurred me on.

I set the business up in April 1997, and by November I’d employed Kieran Kennedy, who is still with us to this day. Kieran was fantastic at handling the amount of business we were getting, and after Kieran was Karl Milner, and then Victoria [Romero-Trigo]. As they say, the rest is history.

What is your process for developing your team?

When I’m building a team, I’m looking at every component. What I’ve always been good at is putting people in different sections of that team and allowing them to flourish.

Sometimes, when I’ve interviewed prospective people, I’ve said: “We are like a football team.” And by that I mean I play people in positions, but I also need to consider depth and strength of squad. Some people don’t want to be substitutes, but a team also needs a very strong substitutes bench. I need to be constantly tinkering round the edges, moving pieces, because a team could quickly go stale. Have a vision of your team 12 months in advance, bringing new players into the team. Competition is a very good element, and you need that in a business.

In the early days, when I had chance to go on holiday, I would have my team on a piece of paper. I’d be thinking: Who’s going to come in? Who’s going to improve our team? And by the time I’d come back from holiday I would have always worked out who I needed to improve that team.

I would like to think that over the years, we have worked our way up the leagues, and now we’re playing Champions League football.

How do you successfully select and grow employees within your team?

I’ve recently seen some really good growth in people. When recruiting, I see what role needs fulfilling, and then I keep an eye out for people; I look at a person’s pedigree and read their detail to know if they can perform well. We’ve made some fantastic acquisitions in this way – we’ve got some real bright sparks.

I’ve seen major growth in our account directors. They are now pulling in major accounts for us. I like intelligent individuals who learn from others, developing as people as well as workers. I can see some very big futures.

When you are in my position, I’ve got to make the final decision whether to bring a person in. You can do your due diligence, but until you work with someone, you don’t know if they are truly good, bad or indifferent. Due diligence can help to quantify the decision, but it can always go the other way. It’s great when you get it right and people flourish.

How do you communicate within your organisation?

We are transparent. I’ve got an open door policy, and I use our brand team to cascade that fact down to all colleagues.

Internally, I hold Account Executive forums once every three months. Though this year we are changing it up – starting January 2024, Simon [Mabb} and I are going to lead the meetings which will see a progression in our communication.

Is there a universal piece of advice you would give to other CEOs or managers?

Put a shift in. Don’t expect other people to do what you’re not willing to do.