James McIntosh, a graduate broker in Blackford’s Aberdeen office, had finished a law degree and was working in his local supermarket. A regular customer, one of Blackford’s directors, eventually talked him into a career in insurance. Since joining Team B, James has gone onto work with a variety of people in all kinds of businesses.

After starting with Blackford just after the Covid lockdown, he’s started studying to become a chartered broker. We caught up with James just after he was awarded his diploma – the penultimate step in becoming fully chartered.

He says that, despite what some might think, there’s never a dull moment.

You had some good career news recently – will you tell us what happened?

I was awarded my insurance diploma as part of my studies towards becoming chartered. It’s quite a big step and it was a lot of work, so I’m very pleased to have hit this milestone. Next stop is to become chartered and then I can get my head out of books after years of studying!

Where do you start when you’re working with a new client?

I always like to go and see new clients in person because you get a much better idea of what you’re insuring. So if it’s an industrial risk, you can see all the machinery, or the products that they’re making and the processes they have in place. If you’re looking at a new client, it’s also good to understand the cover they already have because there might be gaps or things we could do differently. Quite often we can save them a bit of money and still have the right cover in place.

Most clients will already have insurance, so how do you approach that?

That usually makes our job a lot easier, to be honest, because then you have a base to build from. If they don’t have anything, or if it’s just completely unfit for purpose, then you need to go from top to bottom. That can be a bit more of a process, but nine times out of 10 we’re working with clients who already have something in place – then it’s about working out if that’s fit for purpose, and making sure we cover anything that needs covered.

How did you end up choosing insurance as a career?

Probably not how you might expect! I worked at the local Co-op from the age of 16 until I left uni – I actually studied law. One of Blackford’s directors, Chris Tosh, used to come in for his newspaper every Sunday, and I would have it ready for him, then we’d have a quick chat. He was getting bored sitting around the house during lockdown, and he came to work at the Co-op to stop him getting cabin fever. One day he told me he was leaving because he was going to be part of a team starting an insurance broker, and I didn’t think too much more about it.

A few years later, when I finished my degree, I was working in the coffee shop at a gym because I was struggling to get a job. One day Chris came into the gym and asked me if I fancied working in insurance. I said, “definitely not.” And he said, look, sit down with me and let me tell you what it’s about. And then we talked about how it all worked and I went for it. I had an interview with Chris and Tom (founder and MD) over Teams from my mum and dad’s bedroom because I was isolating with Covid. So I had my smart shirt on top and my jammie bottoms on underneath!

Are you glad you eventually decided to give it a try?

Yeah, I absolutely love it now. I wouldn’t really have considered it but there’s a lot of crossover with law. Since I’ve started I’ve really pushed it to school and uni leavers because it’s so undersold – but there’s so much opportunity. Myself and Kira (Riddell, James’s colleague in Aberdeen) are part of quite a small number of people under 30 working in insurance in Aberdeen.

What else are you doing to promote insurance as a career choice?

I’m involved with the Insurance Institute of Aberdeen (IIB), which is a group of volunteer professionals. We run CPD (continuous professional development) events like webinars and technical sessions, as well as an annual dinner. We also do events – we ran one recently about the future of the insurance industry, where I was on a panel talking about careers in the sector – as well as socials like quiz nights and curry nights.

You didn’t mean to join the IIB either, did you?

No, Kira was already involved and I went along because I thought it was a CPD session. I turned up in my jeans and hoodie and they were all sitting at this really long formal table like it was The Apprentice, with everyone else wearing shirts and ties. I was mortified. So I just sat in the corner and by the end of it they said, “We vote James onto the council.” They still mention it every time I’m there. Then I was basically coerced into becoming the education secretary as well, but that’s been great. I’ve organised things like free exam support for members because a lot of people can’t afford to fund it themselves, and I don’t think you should have to pay for it.

What’s the most interesting thing you’ve insured?

There are loads of things to be honest. Every business has its own quirks and is interesting in its own way. There are some really specialised risks like underwater access vehicles (UAVs), which are remotely operated from the surface to repair and change subsea pipes and things like that for the offshore industry. But I also really enjoy working with jewellers because the security measures are so interesting and obviously the items they’re insuring can be pretty special.

Which misconceptions of insurance would you dispel if you could?

That it’s boring – it really isn’t. People that work in it even say it’s boring. Pretty much every day you’ll be dealing with something completely different than the day before. The variation of clients is great, the people you deal with are brilliant – clients, insurers and the Blackford team; it’s very much a people-based business. I think it’s a lot more exciting than it gives itself credit for, and the way it’s usually marketed.

Finally, if you had to explain your job to a five-year-old what would you say?

We protect the things people buy, I suppose? If a rainy day comes we’re like the umbrella. One of the best things about the job is that if the worst happens to one of our clients, and it’s the worst day of their career, there’s every chance that the next day we’ll have them back on the road to recovery.

Hear more from James, and some of Team B here, or email James.McIntosh@blackfordinsurance.com.