Digney Grants builds team for championship year

Digney Grant new hire Barry Fox outside their office in Newry

As restrictions are rolled back and life begins to return to a degree of normality, we're putting the team in place to drive our business forward in 2022.

“We’ve been keen to add a new member of the team for some time now as our existing team has reached capacity,” explains Digney Grant MD, Anthony Boden.

“We’ve been looking for someone with a solid background in commercial insurance but who was ready to take a big step forward in their career.

We’re in a high growth stage of our development currently, so we have a lot to offer insurance professionals with the right mindset and who share our personal and friendly approach to business.”

The right fit was found in Barry Mulrone, who takes up the post of SME Account Executive following an extensive career in insurance both north and south of the border.

GAA fans might recognise Barry’s name as a stalwart of Fermanagh GAA of over 10 years where he learned how to be a true team player. That experience and his positive reputation in the community in Fermanagh will stand him in good stead as we build our client portfolio further into the west.

Barry’s previous roles brought him experience in both personal and commercial insurance, which has given him excellent grounding for this new role. His cross-border experience also fits with our expertise, especially in Construction insurance

Construction is a major focus for us here and we have developed a strong specialism in public and employers’ liability for contractors and sub-contractors working cross-border. We also offer fleet insurance for all trades and professional indemnity insurance including Design and Construct.

“As a company established so close to the border, we have an exceptional level of understanding of the complexity of cross-border business and we use that to our advantage in servicing clients,” explains Sean Grant, Director of Digney Grant.

“We work closely with a fantastic array of insurance providers to design bespoke insurance coverage for our clients and, thanks to being part of a larger insurance group, we have buying power and access to insurance products other local brokers can’t compete with.”

One such product, which will become increasingly important in 2022, is Trade Credit Insurance. With Government assistance coming to an end and costs continuing to inflate, some credit insurance providers are predicting insolvencies to increase by as much as 33% in 2022. Businesses in all sectors are being advised to protect themselves from the potentially catastrophic effect these insolvencies can have.

“Very few clients currently take this option,” Sean continues. “But we’ve seen many times before when large companies go bust, they leave behind a shockwave for sometimes hundreds of smaller companies – many of whom go on to implode as a result. Credit Insurance is surprisingly affordable given its value and it provides many other savings and opportunities for your business when you’re free from the burden of late or missed payments.

“We are very fortunate to have an in-house Credit Insurance specialist within the group, Mark McAllister who can step in and help Digney Grant clients protect their future.”

Despite some of the gloomier economic forecasts, Digney Grant maintains a positive attitude for the year ahead. Anthony Boden explains:

“Things might be tough for SMEs in Northern Ireland in 2022 but we hope we can help support their business with exceptional service, unrivalled local expertise and important new products like credit insurance. For us, we’re continuing to grow and we’re always keen to hear from experienced Account Executives to help us meet our ambitious goals for the year.”