Autumn 2021
Weatherbys Hamilton Newsletter
theSpecialist In this issue: Marsh²eld:
Racehorses:
Regimental chattels:
Much more than just a farm
The making of a stallion
Campaigns, commissions and collections
Stradivarius inches out Spanish Moon to win a record breaking third Weatherbys Hamilton Lonsdale Cup at York in August.
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Welcome to oÖr èÖtÖmn Y[ eJition o/ the Specialist. »t has obÓioÖsly been a hÖ,e relie/ to haÓe ,ot bac" to near normality JÖrin, the sÖmmer anJ ²n,ers ²rmly crosseJ that we can ,et throÖ,h the winter withoÖt any setbac"sa ‘o be able to operate /Ölly /rom oÖr o¬ces has certainly reminJeJ Ös o/ how mÖch a bÖsiness loses when people aren0t able to be to,ethere anJ it is noticeable to Ös how serÓice has starteJ to sÖµer /rom those companies we traJe with which haÓen0t been able to Jo the samea We are not solitary creatÖres by natÖrea ‘his eJition o/ the Specialist toÖches on all three o/ oÖr core areas o/ priÓate cliente /arm • estate anJ blooJstoc" anJ emphasises oÖr specialist eÎpertise in each o/ thema We Óery mÖch hope that we can aJJ real ÓalÖe to any insÖrance yoÖ neeJa
Charles Hamilton Chief Executive
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¹ewellery claims 6 missing rings
áÔer, ,ear sees claims /or lost &eÑeller,b o/ten simâl, /rom rings sliding oµ ²ngers^ Particularly in winter, pulling gloves off in a restaurant or after a dog walk can sometimes remove more than just the glove – and by the time the discovery is made it can easily be too late. Rather surprisingly there is actually a free National Ring Recovery Service, but the chances are that may not be appropriate or successful and an insurance policy will need to be relied upon. After all it is for this type of loss that insurance is normally bought, and where the search has proved fruitless the policy will invariably respond. But for any loss which falls within a general jewellery sum insured, being able to establish the correct value is crucial to gaining a satisfactory settlement. We do encourage all our clients to have up to date valuations and specify pieces individually, but in reality this is often overlooked. However, we recently had a client, who on losing a ring, managed to locate the original purchase invoice from 1995. Armed with this and a description of the piece, he was able to get a quote for a replacement at its current value. He was fairly shaken to discover that this had escalated by a mere 600% and was most relieved to find his insurers agreeing the claim by return at this value, all because he had hung on to the original invoice.
This does bring in to focus how jewellery, unlike some other valuables, seems to increase in value consistently year by year. Most insurers do not apply an annual inflationary increase to jewellery, silver, fine art, etc. as they do with buildings and general contents where reference to data published by the RICS and the RPI make this much easier to track. With no one piece the same, most insurers have to leave the owner responsible for making sure that their jewellery sum insured keeps pace with the market and that they are able to substantiate the value of their pieces in the event of a claim. Something to remember when your next renewal comes around. Identification is everything in estimating a replacement cost accurately. Whilst it is not all of us who can lay our hands on receipts from over 25 years ago, it is a good idea to have a written record as a minimum. With photographs so easy to take on a mobile phone and store securely, this is an even better thing to do.
TO FIND OUT MORE WHY NOT GET IN TOUCH: jmcirvine@weatherbyshamilton.co.uk 07717 804854
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–acehorses 6 the making o+ a stallion It is one thing to oÑn a success/ul racehorse Put ßuite another to deÔeloâ it into a success/ul stallion^ The hammer falls at Tattersalls and another well-bred colt with an impressive physique changes hands. The yearling sales that take place in late summer and autumn each year herald the start of a dream that an unbroken, unraced thoroughbred will develop into a winner that could earn tens of thousands of pounds of prize money on the racecourse and give its owner a thrill like no other in the process. That in itself is success enough for most in an industry where dreams are routinely broken, but there are a lucky few who have the chance of even more. It is their colts whose athletic prowess ends up matching their pedigrees and which are given the opportunity to pass their genes on to future generations. In the wild these are the horses which become the dominant stallions through natural selection and the racing industry strives to achieve exactly the same result, albeit in a more contrived way. The foal crop in Europe each year averages just under 30,000 and as you would expect roughly 50% of them are colts. Ed Sackville, one of the leading bloodstock agents scours the sales grounds every year when many of them come up for sale as yearlings.
ëˆe all haÔe our methods o/ assessing these horses and insâecting them Ñith the oP&ect o/ ²nding the uncut diamonds^ ’he, are Parel, teenagers in human terms and so Ñill change hugel, as the, mature Put the ultimate âri)e is sourcing the stallion that Pecomes a shaâer o/ the Preed li#e ¾alileob ãuPaÑi or ßran#el^ ’hese horses can earn literall, tens o/ millions during their stud careers and reâa, the inÔestment in them man, times oÔer^é
As soon as a colt passes the post first in a Group 1 race such as the July Cup at Newmarket the owner is certain to be the focus of attention from stud farms anxious to obtain the colt’s services as a stallion for the following breeding season. It runs from February to July in the northern hemisphere and from September
Starman winning the 2021 Darley July Cup
to January in the southern hemisphere. This means that some stallions do follow the sun and spend the entire year covering mares, but most get half the year off. To be registered as a thoroughbred a horse has to be the product of a natural mating which puts a cap on the number of foals that a stallion can physically sire; otherwise the numbers enabled by artificial insemination could threaten to overwhelm the industry and in-breeding would rise to disastrous levels. The science of all reproduction retains an element of mystery and horses are no exception. Having clambered to the top of a very greasy pole there is still one major barrier standing in the way of the aspiring stallion. Until he actually attempts to cover a mare no one knows whether he will be particularly interested or whether he will be fertile. The million dollar question is: will the stallion ejaculate semen containing healthy, motile sperm in sufficient quantities to impregnate mares on a commercial basis? A mare can only have one foal a year and with a breeding life of probably only 15 years at most an owner cannot afford to waste time with a stallion which has low fertility. So, to prevent a spoke in the wheel at this late stage, it is sensible to insure the colt against being sub-fertile before anyone has any idea of what the outcome will be. And this means literally before anyone knows; before a stallion has sensed a mare in oestrus or before any semen test or test mating. First season sub-fertility insurance will pay if a stallion fails to achieve a conception rate of 35%. To have the chance of being regarded as commercial the industry regards a 35% conception rate as a bare minimum and in raw terms means that there is at least a 35% chance of a mare conceiving every time she is covered by the stallion. As reproduction is such an inexact science the standard agreement with a mare owner provides that a stallion will be
Nathaniel at Newsells Park Stud
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Sales ring at Tattersalls, Newmarket
given two or three opportunities to get a mare in foal before she is released from the contract and is free to visit another stallion. On average mares cycle every 21 days and so depending on whether a mare is having a foal in the breeding season in question there may or may not be time to go elsewhere; a barren year carries an opportunity cost. With 11 months’ gestation, a mare can only have one foal a year which means that the pressure is well and truly on the first season stallion to demonstrate his fertility if he is going to have any chance at all of success in hugely competitive company. Get off to a slow start and as in the wild there won’t be many second chances. The value of a well-bred first season stallion can range from anywhere between £1–20million depending on his likely popularity and level of his stud fee. To sire enough foals to give him a chance of being successful a stallion needs to cover at least 80–100 mares in his first season with the ideal being nearer 150. With normal fertility he will need to be ready to cover 2–3 mares per day during the February to July breeding season. Julian Dollar, manager of Newsells Park Stud where Nathaniel, the sire of the legendary filly Enable, stands. ë•tanding a ²rst season stallion is initiall, a numPers1 game^ It1s Ôer, imâortant /or him to haÔe decent si)ed ²rst croâsb so that he has as man, runners on the racecourse to reâresent him as âossiPle^ •maller Poo#s don1t necessaril, ma#e it imâossiPleb Put the, oPÔiousl, create /ar less oââortunities^ It is hard to oÔerestimate &ust hoÑ di¬cult it is to estaPlish a success/ul stallion^ ¯lent, o/ Ñinners /rom the oµ is almost alÑa,s critical to their long`term success^ ’he mar#et /orces that driÔe the Preeding industr, can Pe &ust as ruthless as nature^é In order to assess the unproven stallion for sub-fertility insurance, insurers have little to go on other than to have their own vet conduct a clinical examination of the horse and his genitalia. They need to determine that the stallion has two well descended testicles of normal size and consistency and by measuring them they can estimate the likely volume of semen and daily sperm output. If a stallion is going to perform two or three times a day it
is a sobering fact that he needs to be capable of a daily sperm output of at least 5 billion, even though it obviously only needs one sperm to successfully fertilise an ovum. Fred Barrelet of Rossdales Ltd., one of the UK’s leading veterinary practices. ëI am o/ten as#ed to eÎamine colts /or insurance Ñhen the, are still in training in the summer or autumn o/ their last racing season^ As a result o/ Peing âurâosel, #eât aâart /rom the ²llies so as not to Pe distracted Ñhilst the, are in trainingb the, are seÎuall, immature Ñith testicles that are o/ten much smaller than a/ter the, haÔe Peen eÎâosed to mares and start coÔering^ ’heir testicles can then Pe eÎâected to increase in si)e P, an,thing /rom 2?6BB• and I adÔise that a decision on hoÑ man, mares the, should Pe âermitted to coÔer each da, Pe dela,ed until &ust Pe/ore the start o/ the Preeding season Ñhen the, Ñill haÔe Peen in miÎed comâan, on the stud /or a /eÑ months^ ’esticular Ôolume is directl, correlated to the numPer o/ sâerm health, testicular tissue is aPle to âroduce^ Rushing a stallion in to coÔering too man, mares too ßuic#l, can imâact negatiÔel, on his /ertilit, and Ñith sâerm ta#ing aPout ?= da,s to generate and matureb this is a mista#e^ AlloÑ the stallion to get into his stride and he Ñill haÔe the Pest chance o/ Peing /ertile^é Mares are routinely first scanned for pregnancy between 14 and 18 days after they have been bred. With serious sums at stake the results of these early scans are awaited with trepidation by stallion and mare owners alike. Insurers require the stallion to cover at least 50 times before reaching a conclusion on his fertility, but once it becomes apparent that he is going to fail to achieve a conception rate of at least 35% in his first season a claim will be paid. The dream of owning a successful stallion may be over, but at least the insurance proceeds can soften the blow and give the wherewithal to roll the dice again.
TO FIND OUT MORE WHY NOT GET IN TOUCH: chamilton@weatherbyshamilton.co.uk 07768 354135
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àstate insÖrance c selecting a broker An imâortant âart o/ m, &oP in oÔer A0 ,ears as a land agent has Peen resâonsiPilit, /or the insurance âolicies coÔering m, clients1 estates^ In that caâacit, I haÔe alÑa,s /elt it imâortant to oÔersee the management o/ the insurances m,sel/ rather than Peing temâted to delegate the Ñhole ârocess to an assistant or &unior memPer o/ staµ^ It is all too eas, to regard insurance as a time` consuming nuisance until disaster stri#es and suddenl, it Pecomes an all`imâortant âriorit,^ Although many land agents and owners acquire a good working knowledge of insurance it is unlikely to be their specialist subject and it is their insurance broker on whom they need to be able to rely for advice and support. I have always been of the view that a good insurance broker should be regarded in the same light as other professional advisers, such as solicitors and accountants. This means being proactive rather than reactive and enabling the agent and owner to be confident that all bases are covered. To have the right advice and cover in place is always a huge relief when there is a claim and for the ensuing restoration and settlement process to proceed with the minimum of fuss. That only reflects well on everyone concerned and leads to a level of trust that brings out the best in any relationship.
ˆhat to eÎâect /rom ,our insurance Pro#er and hoÑ to choose themì I have always liked to use a broker who comes with a strong recommendation from my own contacts or from another estate which has had a positive experience of them. Tender processes will always have their part to play in the process of determining price but I want to know that those that I invite to participate have already been tried and tested in the areas where they might be appointed. Whatever route you decide to take I would always want a face-to-face interview and an insistence by the prospective broker on being shown around the estate, not only during the selection process but also at ongoing reviews. Not feeling the need for this, or even worse, proposing a video presentation instead, is not a great start. The broker you appoint needs to be somebody whose professionalism and technical knowledge you respect, identifies with the needs and interests of the estate and with whom you feel you are going to be able to establish an effective relationship on a personal level. Your broker will undoubtedly also have a support team and I would expect to be introduced to them so that when necessary I can speak to someone else who is familiar with my affairs and not have to leave endless messages. In the end though I will always want the person who I appointed to be my main point of contact and to take responsibility for all aspects of the insurance, including claims.
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Mark Egar FRICS, Director, Savills Non-Executive Director, Weatherbys Hamilton
On a more specific level these are also points that I put a lot of store by in selecting an insurance broker: • Confidentiality: A huge amount of sensitive information is going to be provided regarding security, possessions, assets, family relationships etc. I need to have complete confidence in the broker’s discretion and attitude to confidentiality. • Scope of cover: It is just as important to be told what isn’t covered as what is covered. It is easy for owners and agents to assume that all claims will be paid and there is nothing worse than being caught unawares when something is not. Making the scope of the cover quite clear at the outset is also evidence of how well the broker understands your requirements and their subject. • Reviews: A minuted annual review meeting is essential. It does not pay to be frequently changing insurers unless there is good reason, but you should expect your broker to obtain alternative quotations at regular intervals without prompting, to ensure that the insurance premiums and scope of cover remain competitive and appropriate. • Valuations: Owners and agents are always concerned about underinsurance or leaving something off a schedule. You need a broker who has an instinctive feel for rebuilding costs and the activities of the estate so that they can provide an informed second opinion. You certainly can’t
expect your broker to put their name to valuations or to know every property and business you have, but you will want them to be proactive in helping you to ensure that sums insured are adequate and instigate valuations from a professional firm as necessary. For their part, owners and estate managers must not forget that it is their responsibility to disclose full details of the assets and activities that they want insuring. • Claims: It seems perverse that as soon as a claim arises many insurance brokers expect their client to form an instant relationship with someone they don’t know. Being passed across to a claims department is not ideal and I am a great advocate of using a broker where the same person takes responsibility for everything. It is at moments of stress that I want to be able to turn to a familiar face and not have to start from scratch with someone new.
Man, estates these da,s are d,namic commercial enterârises^ ’he era o/ dealing Ñith the insurances once a ,ear oÔer a good lunch Ñith ,our Pro#er are long gone and it is not acceâtaPle to receiÔe reneÑal notices /rom them Ñithout the oµer o/ a âroâer meeting or discussion^ Insurance is /ar too comâleÎ noÑ and /or the same reason aââointing the right insurance Pro#er to adÔise ,ou merits âroâer consideration^
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³arsh²elJ c much more than "ust a +arm
Dawn and Will Hawking Owners Marshfield Farm
Marsh²eld ßarm Ice åream is an eÎtraordinar, stor,^ It is hoÑ a small /amil, dair, /arm in the åotsÑolds managed to trans/orm itsel/ into a ma&or •¸ retail Prand Ñhilst at the same time remaining true to its roots and traditional /arming âractices^ A Prilliant eÎamâle o/ entreâreneurial ¯air and Ñhat can Pe achieÔed desâite the âerceiÔed dominance o/ the retail giants^ ’he ßarm Marshfield Farm is a home, a farm and a multi awardwinning ice cream manufacturer. My husband, Will Hawking, and I run the business and have done so for over thirty years. Being homegrown is the essence of our story and to us this means making ice cream the way it should be made in empathy with the environment. Marshfield is a thriving, working dairy farm and three generations of the Hawking family have farmed these Cotswold fields since 1971. Returning home in 1988 from the Royal Agricultural College with a determination to diversify the family’s dairy business, Will took on the challenge of transforming the profit it was making from its core product and in doing so moved from teenage enthusiast to professional ice cream maker. Our family farmed fields remain at the heart of the business and we only ever use our own herd’s milk in our ice cream; because of this, every drop of fresh milk can be traced back to the field it first came from. We have been farming more than 1100 acres of farmland for over 50 years, working alongside nature to keep the soil healthy and the wildlife buzzing. In 1999 we took the decision to take our farm fully organic. This was a bold move back then but a commercial and personal decision that we felt was the right one for our herd, family and the land we tend. With the entirety of the business based on the farm, our herdsman milks our cows twice a day, seven days a week and this milk is taken only metres away to our onsite ice cream factory. We operate our farm business as a closed loop system which allows us to be as self-sufficient as possible. We grow 95% of the food our cows require; silage is cultivated from grass on the farm, kept under weighted sheets and fed to the cows throughout the
winter, along with milled organic corn which we grow on the Cotswold escarpment. We use the cows’ manure to naturally fertilise the fields and we convert their milk into the ice cream which we sell direct from the farm. Our cows spend most of the year outdoors, free to roam on our fresh Cotswold pastures and graze the lush grass and clover. We farm knowing that when we plant that first grass seed in the autumn, this will feed our cows the following spring, providing the nutrients needed to create milk. We then witness this milk being churned and often consumed in less than twenty-four hours! We have farmed our land in a sustainable way over many years and have invested similarly when increasing our ice cream production. From covering all south facing barns and factory roofs in solar panels; to harnessing green energy via a wood-pellet boiler to reduce our carbon emissions and environmental footprint. We even have our own borehole on the farm allowing us to be self-sufficient for water in the factory, milking parlour and farmhouse. Our determination to look after the land that looks after us doesn’t end there and we have recently introduced bee hives to our pastures with over 20,000 bees helping crop pollination and promoting wildlife biodiversity.
’he Mar#et We’ve grown from just servicing our local shop and café to having over 5,500 Marshfield Farm outlets in kiosks, cafés and farm shops around the country. As we control all elements of the farm and ice cream business, profit is invested straight back into the company to make the production better, faster and more efficient. For example, in the last few years we have gone from producing 300 litres of ice cream an hour to 6,000 litres an hour due to significant investment in the manufacturing process. Over 95% of our business is
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focused on the impulse ‘scooping’ market and as you can imagine our parlours were greatly affected by the pandemic. With our normal route to market hitting the buffers in 2019, a small and flexible management team enabled us quickly to adapt to taking our ice cream direct to our customers’ homes in a completely new way of working for us. Thanks to our customers’ brand loyalty and support, our Local Home Delivery network was born, an online shop was created and our drivers began delivering from field to front door. As well as to family doorsteps, we were very proud to set up a charitable ‘Frozen Fund’, donating a proportion of our home delivery profits to surprise key workers with free deliveries and to share with them the happiness of ice cream! To this day we continue to offer home deliveries and now, thanks to a little help from a scoop of dry ice, we’re even able to post our ice cream anywhere in the country. We made a conscious commercial decision to keep our ice cream out of supermarkets, yet despite this our retail sales have continued to grow. Stocked by smaller, independent sellers, our retail tubs attract an audience which is supportive of British farming, with provenance and transparency more important than ever for so many consumers. We continue to invest in this market and have just launched a new line of packaging to support our independent retail customers with increased shelfappeal and more environmentally friendly packaging. Not afraid to shy away from a challenge, we invest heavily in development. As well as multi award-winning real dairy ice cream, we have a range of complementary products, including fresh fruit sorbets and fruit & milk push-up pops, whilst our line of plant-based ice cream alternatives continues to grow. But the biggest surprise for us all in the last five years has been the success of a completely new and innovative product – our Scoop’s Ice Cream for Dogs!
’he ßuture A lot has changed in 25 years since that very first batch of vanilla ice cream was made but our family remains deeply rooted in the business. We are three generations of farmers and the business continues to be a great passion for all of us. In recent years, we’ve welcomed two of our own children back full time to the farm: Rory balances production work with his love of farming, and Flora is growing our retail sector as our Direct to Consumer and Retail Manager. We’re still working on bringing my eldest son Angus back home from Australia! As well as our own family, we now have over fifty employees; from our team in the factory to our eight regional sales managers, a small admin department, a technical team, a marketing department and our team of farmers managing our fields. We are very focused on understanding the needs of our customers and our continued success is based on the strength of our relationship with those at the front end selling the
product. We talk to them regularly, listen to their views and help them to make the most of selling our ice cream wherever we can. We like to think we’re a one stop shop for independent ice cream vendors; providing scoop training for new customers, offering freezer support, bespoke point of sale and of course, delivering the final product anywhere in the Britain through our network of distributors. As a family business, we have unique control of our market and every account we win and look after is a proud moment. Perfect for the poshest of parties or simply sitting by the sea. You might have enjoyed our ice cream in popular tourist attractions such as the Tower of London, Paignton Zoo or English Heritage sites (including Stonehenge), or on a dessert menu at the likes of Hard Rock Café, Wildwood and Byron Burgers. While the scooping trade obviously remains very seasonal, we balance our year with sales in theatres in the colder months. From the Bath Theatre Royal on our doorstep, all the way across to the bright lights of the seven LW Theatres in London’s West End. The nation’s love affair with traditional, quality ice cream remains as passionate as ever and a small Cotswold farm is at the heart of it.
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–e,imental chattels c campaigns[ commissions and collections ’hroughout centuries o/ serÔice the Regiments o/ the çritish Arm, haÔe accumulated large collections o/ chattels through endoÑmentsb the commissioning o/ âiecesb and the troâhies o/ Ñar^ çe it an oil âainting o/ the Monarchb one o/ the ²Ôe or siÎ hooÔes attriPuted to ³aâoleon1s horse Marengob or a ßrench áagleb regiments haÔe alÑa,s loo#ed to add to the caPinets and Ñalls o/ their messes 6 and not &ust courtes, o/ the ßrenchƒ
‘he per"s o/ /orei,n serÓice There is a stark difference between those regiments who served in India, a country rich in precious metals and gems with the workmanship to go with them, and those who didn’t. British regiments were typically posted abroad for long periods of time – sometimes in excess of ten years. The first regiment of the British Army to be posted to India in 1753 was the 39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot, setting a pattern for nearly 200 years of purchasing and pilfering. Regiments soon became accustomed to returning home with cabinets full of trophies, mess table centrepieces and other silverware; not to mention the prizes taken from those who opposed the rapid expansion of Empire throughout the following century.
Ironically, it was often the senior regiments of the British Army who missed out on this bountiful haul. The Brigade of Guards was never posted to India and as a result doesn’t own anything like the amount of silverware as those regiments that served in the colonies. On the other hand the King’s Royal Hussars had three out of their four antecedent regiments serve in India and it really is a marvel to see their silver room today. Latterly, the relentless amalgamation of units has increased the holdings of many of the other modern-day regiments as well.
³eJals anJ militaria As you would expect, particular items are revered above all else by their regiments. The Colours of the Infantry and the Guidons and Pennants of the Cavalry are the most obvious. Presented by royalty and consecrated by the army’s chaplains, these precious silks embody the regiments that carry them. Often displayed in the dining rooms of the messes, a young officer will be in charge of their safekeeping every day. Indeed, when on duty at St James’s Palace, the Ensign of the Guard even takes the colours to bed with him for safe keeping! Many regiments will also display the awards given to those who have served in previous conflicts. The medals and decorations of these soldiers and officers often adorn the walls, displaying an enviable lineage of achievement that all are expected to emulate. Predictably, there are other equally treasured items displayed in less salubrious surroundings. The downstairs loos of many a mess often contain
interesting collections – slapstick cartoons of members past, framed press clippings of the regiment’s most memorable (if not always most honourable) media appearances and any number of tasteless presentations that best have more limited exposure.
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»n memoriam The Officers', Warrant Officers' and Sergeants' messes of the army are constant reminders of the debt owed to those who served before. The pictures and paintings lining the walls are there to document both the triumphs of a regiment but also the loss of life. Most regiments commission portraits of those killed in action, particularly in more recent times when it has been a thankfully, rarer occurrence. As a result many regiments boast some famous artists with paintings by Munnings, Cuneo and Whistler as much part of the furniture as an ashtray from the Berchtesgaden or a motorbike from Helmand province. Recent conflicts have yielded more mundane mementoes, with one regiment sporting a picture of Sadam Hussein, complete with the addition of a regimental watch strap freshly painted on his wrist. Another owns a Bren gun recovered from the Taliban!
The variation and breadth of regimental collections provide an invaluable thread of history – often magnificent but also a poignant testament to heroism, sacrifice and dedication.
Like any family heirlooms they need insuring and the regiments work incredibly hard to maintain and protect them. Long may they continue to do so, inspiring the next generation of officers and soldiers in the process.
TO FIND OUT MORE WHY NOT GET IN TOUCH: hhardy@weatherbyshamilton.co.uk 07858 149007
·eepin, the same insÖrer åhanging ,our insurance Pro#er does not necessaril, mean changing ,our insurer^ Clients sometimes want to look for a new broker to handle their affairs because of the retirement of someone with whom they have had a longstanding relationship; or of course if they are dissatisfied with the service they have been receiving for some reason. However, that does not mean they necessarily want to change their insurer and there are plenty of occasions where this is the case. The insurer may have a particular understanding of a complex portfolio or performed very well when settling a difficult claim; or a property may be suffering from a defect such as subsidence which could be difficult to get covered by another insurer. There are all sorts of reasons for not wanting to move and it is a common misconception that a change of broker has to trigger a change of insurer.
If you don’t want to change insurer, a simple letter of authority will enable the new broker to contact the insurer on your behalf, which will then transfer its policies to the new broker’s agency. If needs be this can be done at any time during the currency of a policy and does not have to wait until renewal. The contract of insurance is between you and the insurer and not between the broker and insurer. Notwithstanding a desire to stay with the same insurer you should still expect the new broker to undertake a thorough review of your current policies and make his recommendations accordingly. However satisfactory a previous relationship may have been it is a good opportunity to look at everything with a fresh set of eyes and make sure that nothing has been missed or can be improved upon. TO FIND OUT MORE WHY NOT GET IN TOUCH: mwright@weatherbyshamilton.co.uk 07747 763045
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New appointments ³ine ,ears seem to haÔe raced P, since åharles ½amilton and ˆeatherP,s çan# started ˆeatherP,s ½amilton and Ñe are thrilled Ñith the ârogress Ñe haÔe made in that time in estaPlishing an insurance Pro#er Ñith a reall, strong /olloÑing in our three core areas o/ âriÔate clientb /arm ~ estate and Ploodstoc#^
The firm is in a very healthy state and in a great position to take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves when clients want expert advice and a genuinely attentive service. The period has seen huge change in the broker market and we have every intention of making sure that what we offer remains of real value whilst our competitors seem increasingly to lose identity and focus.
All three have worked closely together for more than 15 years, with both Alec and Richard being founding partners of Weatherbys Hamilton and before that working with Charles at Hamilton & Partners and Lycetts. It should be a seamless succession. Alec is based in Newmarket and lives near Bury St Edmunds whilst Richard is based in our Swindon office and lives in Lambourn.
With this in mind we consider it the ideal time to implement changes at the top and we are delighted to announce that with effect from 1st January 2022 Charles Hamilton will move up from Chief Executive to Chairman and Alec Moore and Richard Chugg will take his place as Joint Chief Executives.
Supported by a strong Board we are very confident that these changes will enable Weatherbys Hamilton to continue to be a well-managed, successful broker that is wholly responsive to its clients’ requirements and able to maximise the opportunities ahead. We all very much look forward to the next chapter.
Penrith – William Johnson 07966 030832 wjohnson@weatherbyshamilton.co.uk 01768 877355
(Mobile) (Office)
Wellingborough – Matthew Haxby mhaxby@weatherbyshamilton.co.uk
07764 153234 01933 440077
(Mobile) (Office)
Newmarket – Alec Moore amoore@weatherbyshamilton.co.uk
07503 671649 01638 563444
(Mobile) (Office)
Swindon – Martin Wright mwright@weatherbyshamilton.co.uk
07747 763045 01793 847333
(Mobile) (Office)
London – Hamish Hardy hhardy@weatherbyshamilton.co.uk
07858 149007 (Mobile) 0207 292 9029 (Office)
Edinburgh – James Innes jinnes@weatherbyshamilton.co.uk
07526 252857 (Mobile) 0131 285 5064 (Office)
Horsham – Guy Baxter gbaxter@weatherbyshamilton.co.uk
07855 626086 01403 915599
Richard Chugg and Alec Moore who become Joint Chief Executives of Weatherbys Hamilton on 1st January 2022
(Mobile) (Office)
www.weatherbyshamilton.co.uk
Weatherbys Hamilton LLP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Financial Services Register number 582708 Registered office: Sanders Road, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire NN8 4BX Registered Number OC373141 Disclaimer - The views and opinions expressed in this Newsletter are solely those of the Partners of Weatherbys Hamilton LLP and do not claim to represent those of any other company or third party.