Growth in UK retail broking is no longer purely commercial; it is increasingly being defined by risk governance.
As brokers scale in a more complex risk environment, decisions on where and how to grow are being shaped by a more structured view of risk, influenced as much by regulation as by market conditions.
For Rob White (pictured), chief risk and compliance officer at Acrisure UK Retail, that shift reflects a broader change in the environment brokers now operate in.
“It just feels like a much more risk-dominated world than it ever has been in recent memory,” he said, pointing to the combined impact of cyber exposure, geopolitical volatility and financial risk.
That shift is being reinforced by clearer regulatory expectations. The Financial Conduct Authority, he noted, has become more explicit about what “good” looks like, from operational resilience to the implementation of Consumer Duty.
“The regulatory bar is increasing, and the ability for firms to say that they do not understand that regulatory bar is diminishing,” White said.
That clarity is reshaping how brokers approach growth. Under Consumer Duty, expansion strategies must now be aligned with demonstrable customer outcomes – effectively placing governance at the centre of growth decisions.
“The move towards outcomes-based regulation really puts the onus on the firm to have a view of what a good outcome looks like for its customers and what fair value looks like,” White said.
In a consolidating market, that leaves brokers balancing two demands: delivering profitable growth while evidencing that value is fair and sustainable.
“The days of a UK insurance broker being able to maximise profit at all costs without consideration of fair value are very long gone,” he said.
This tension is particularly acute in a soft market, where falling premiums can put pressure on revenue. Brokers looking for alternative growth levers must ensure those strategies do not erode customer outcomes.
White pointed to areas where commercial and regulatory priorities align, such as advising clients on accurate sums insured, rebuild costs and risk management services. These, he said, represent “real win-wins” for both broker and customer.
As expectations become clearer, risk considerations are increasingly shaping where brokers choose to compete and how they pursue growth.
Rather than deterring entry into certain sectors, greater regulatory clarity may have the opposite effect. With a clearer understanding of what constitutes fair value, brokers can approach previously sensitive product lines with more confidence.
“We know what the playbook looks like,” White said, describing a shift towards entering markets with a clearer framework for balancing profitability and customer outcomes.
Growth itself can introduce constraint, the pace at which businesses scale is increasingly tied to how quickly their control environments can keep up.
“It is quite easy for a firm on a rapid growth trajectory for the scale and complexity of the business to outgrow the robustness of its control environment,” White said.
That puts pressure on firms to invest in governance alongside expansion, ensuring risk frameworks, oversight and controls develop in step with commercial growth.
For White, effective risk governance is no longer a defensive function. When embedded properly, it becomes part of strategic decision-making and a driver of sustainable growth.
“I genuinely believe that good risk and compliance is also good business,” he said.
That requires risk leaders to move beyond a back-office role and into the centre of board-level discussions, helping firms not only mitigate downside risk, but identify opportunity.
“It can be more than just a comfort blanket,” White said. “It can be a competitive advantage.”
The cost of getting it wrong is also rising. Weak governance, slow risk identification or failure to evidence compliance can create operational disruption and regulatory exposure, ultimately undermining growth.
As brokers push for expansion, some risks remain underappreciated, particularly for firms moving from regional to national scale. White highlighted the importance of building control frameworks proactively, rather than reacting after issues emerge.
“It is much easier to put those building blocks in place as you grow than to retrospectively increase your standards,” he said.
Resilience is a key part of that shift. As firms grow, expectations around operational and technological robustness increase significantly, particularly in areas such as cyber risk and system resilience.
Emerging risks are also adding new layers of complexity. White pointed to artificial intelligence as an example of a technology that can both improve efficiency and introduce new operational challenges.
In areas such as complaints handling, he noted, AI-generated submissions can increase volume and complexity, sometimes slowing resolution rather than accelerating it. More broadly, client use of AI tools is beginning to reshape broker interactions, introducing new questions and demands into the advisory process, and adding further complexity to how brokers scale efficiently.
Risk governance is no longer a parallel consideration to growth, it is becoming one of its defining constraints and enablers. Firms that can align strategy, regulation and customer outcomes will be better placed to scale sustainably. Those that cannot risk turning growth itself into a liability.
