President's Message 2026
It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since I proudly took on the role of President of the Birmingham Insurance Institute.
The Birmingham Insurance Institute was founded in 1887. At the inaugural meeting of the institute, its objectives were laid down to:
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disseminate knowledge of the principles of Insurance amongst those engaged in the business.
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encourage social intercourse between the members of the profession.
I’d say those objectives still hold true today but have been expanded into the modern world where we support our members with a wide ranging CPD programme, networking, charity events, and educational programmes to champion insurance and financial services as a career choice.
My chosen charity is Edwards Trust. They are a fantastic charity working across the West Midlands supporting bereaved families. As a parent myself, I simply cannot begin to imagine the pain experienced by the loss of a child, and the reality of trying to live with that day to day. The fact that this charity was founded following such a tragedy of the loss of Edward at just seven years old and has gone on to support over six hundred families every year is awe inspiring.
In my presidential year I set about wanting to achieve 3 key things to drive benefit for our members, the first was increased collaboration across the region. I’d like to think we’ve seen this, with joint events put on with BIBA West Midlands, ICAN Birmingham, PFS, and CILA, and a recent ongoing pilot with the CII and Birmingham City University with the ever-important work of encouraging young people to consider Insurance and Financial services as a good career choice. It’s important we keep talking to young people about the things that matter to them.
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ESG
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Career growth opportunities
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Work life balance
The 2nd was to celebrate the achievements of members in their examinations and professional qualifications, something that I was delighted and honoured to do at our awards evening at The Council House in October. The pursuit of professional qualifications and the continual professional development of all of us in the room will only continue to raise public trust and demonstrate that what we do truly matters
The 3rd and perhaps most important to me was to reinvigorate a young professionals committee to bring new ideas and diversity of thought to council and create a pipeline of future presidents. I'm delighted that we rebranded our Young Professionals committee to our Social & Engagement committee. I see them all as presidents of the future to continue the work of the institute formed 139 years ago.
What we’ve delivered as an institute this year has been fantastic and it’s down to a group of professionals that volunteer their time to put on our dinner, CPD programme, charity work, educational visits and keeping us financially sound amongst lots of other things. Without the support of Council, i couldn't have achieved anything. . Special thanks of course must go to Helen Holyoake as my Deputy President, who I know will go on to take the institute even further forward during her year.
Finally, thank you to all of our members for supporting the work of the BII across my year. Without our members we wouldn't exist and i hope we once again provided benefit to your CII membership.
Thank you for letting the boy from Birmingham who at 19 needed a job and found one in Insurance become your president, it’s been a huge honour and one I’ll never forget
Best wishes,
Stuart
A little more about BII
Who are we?
We are the second largest Institute in the UK and are run by elected Officers, Council Members and our Young Professionals’ Group. Everyone involved is a volunteer who seeks to give something back to their profession in the local area, alongside their normal day job.
It is our responsibility to ensure that you get the most out of your CII membership, by providing local events and initiatives to assist with your career development.
What do we do?
The BII exists to provide educational and developmental support, along with networking opportunities to our members living or working within the Birmingham and surrounding areas. It is important to us that you have the appropriate support to enable you to achieve your goals and we can assist you with achieving professional qualifications, as well as providing opportunities for on-going learning and development.
We have given a lot of thought to how we, as your local Institute, can best support our members and the insurance industry in the Birmingham area.
Professional Development & Education
The BII provides a range of lectures covering a diverse range of interesting, pertinent and informative topics, to support your Continuous Professional Development.
For successful examination candidates, there is an annual award ceremony, where diplomas, certificates and prizes are presented to the most meritorious candidates.
Charity
The BII will continue to play a leading role in charity fundraising – both for local chosen charities and the general Insurance Charities.
Networking
Our social events, as well as our live lectures, are great opportunities for networking and meeting others involved in our industry, and also provide an enjoyable break from the routine of daily work.
If you wish to receive details of these events, please ensure that you are opted in to receive local institute email communications by checking the ‘My CII’ part of the CII website. Otherwise, take a look at the Events link on this site.
Remember, the institute is here to serve you, our members, and I recommend that you get to know those of us who represent you on Council, and make full use of the services we offer.
Please contact me, or any of the Officers, should you have a query about anything related to the Birmingham Insurance Institute.
On our ‘About Us’ pages, you will find a contact list of all the Officers on Council.
We warmly welcome anyone who wishes to become involved in the BII Council. It is a great way to meet new people in our industry, and will give you opportunities to:
- Gain an understanding of, and contribute to, ‘the bigger picture’ of insurance;
- Mix with experienced, like-minded insurance professionals;
- Put something back into the local insurance scene.