A record-breaking success at BIBA 2025

Markel's participation at BIBA 2025 in Manchester highlighted their commitment to broker partnerships and service excellence, featuring a strong presence of underwriting leads and executive managers engaging with industry professionals.

Published on 3 June, 2025

We were delighted to return to Manchester once again this year to attend, exhibit and participate at the 2025 BIBA conference. Our main programme theme this year was around the importance of broker partnerships, with the event providing an excellent platform to demonstrate our people-first approach, strong commitment to the broker market, and our specialist sectors.

This year’s conference welcomed thousands of insurance professionals. Our 50-strong presence included underwriting leads and executive managers, who were on hand throughout to engage directly with brokers, partners, and the press.

Watch highlights of BIBA 2025 featuring impactful sessions on claims handling and a record-breaking social event.

Partnership at the heart of every conversation

BIBA continues to be a standout industry opportunity for meaningful broker engagement. The team entered the conference with the aim of building on strong broker relationships through open and collaborative dialogue. Across the two days, that ambition was successfully realised.

With dedicated Markel conference rooms and meetings scheduled throughout the event, our underwriting and business development teams held regular in-depth conversations with brokers from all parts of the UK. These focused on our support for their businesses, client needs, expanding our specialist sectors, and ways to strengthen partnerships for the long term.

Contributing to the BIBA programme

We were pleased to have the opportunity of playing an active role in the conference agenda, contributing to two highly engaging sessions that reflected both technical insight and wider business values.

In one of the Fringe sessions, Jo Sykes, our broking divisional director, was joined by Olympic triathlete, Alistair Brownlee, for a conversation on the power of partnership – both in business and sport. Facilitated by our marketing director, Simon Johnston, Jo emphasised the central role brokers play in Markel’s strategy, and how the business invests in its people and infrastructure to provide meaningful support to brokers and their clients.

BIBA 2025 was a standout moment for Markel: an opportunity to connect, collaborate and share our vision for specialist insurance in a changing market.

Alistair spoke openly about the importance of teamwork in driving his success, highlighting parallels between elite sport and business. He also shared the story behind the Brownlee Foundation – an initiative that has helped over 70,000 children across the UK become more active and confident through sport.

Leading conversations on claims excellence

On the seminar stage, our claims director, Richard Napoli, took part in an engaging panel session focused on the role of claims as a defining customer experience.

As claims processes come under increased regulatory and consumer scrutiny, the session explored how insurers can continue to build trust through effective claims handling.

Richard talked about how claims excellence is central to our reputation, being the critical moment of truth in the customer journey. The panel discussed innovations in claims delivery, including the influence of technology and AI. The role of empathy and responsiveness was covered, including the importance of aligning people, processes and technology to exceed expectations, especially in high-volume periods.

The Markel Podcast Studio - a platform for discussion and media engagement

As well as delivering a visually engaging stand that attracted high footfall, we also unveiled a dedicated media and podcast studio near the main exhibition floor – the first of its kind at BIBA. This space was a hub for recorded discussions, bringing together brokers, colleagues, and press representatives to share views and explore current topics.

The discussions allowed us to demonstrate our expertise and hear broker perspectives about the good and challenging aspects of the industry in the current climate. Interviews and recordings from the studio will continue to support our content strategy in the weeks and months ahead.

We also took full advantage of the media presence at BIBA. The team participated in video interviews with Insurance Post and Insurance Business, while contributing to in-depth editorial interviews with Insurance Post and Insurance Times. This important channel enabled us to highlight our five-year strategy, commitment to service excellence, and a continued investment in our specialist capability.

Record-breaking broker event at Society Manchester

Our annual BIBA social event has grown in scale and stature year on year – and 2025 was no exception. Hosted on the evening of day one at Society, the event attracted more than 700 broker registrations – the highest since the event began three years ago.

The evening provided a relaxed and sociable environment to continue conversations and strengthen professional relationships in a vibrant and lively atmosphere.

A standout BIBA for Markel

Our presence at BIBA allowed us to demonstrate a deep investment in partnerships through our people-first approach, and a clear vision for sustainable, expert-led growth. Whether through broker engagement, thought leadership or claims insight, every element of the event reflected our commitment to putting brokers and customers first.

As the Markel business continues to grow across care, construction, technology, and professional indemnity, the insight gained from BIBA will help shape the future products and services we develop to strengthen our proposition and make us increasingly relevant to brokers.

We’d like to thank every broker, journalist, and partner who engaged with us at BIBA 2025. Your support, ideas and energy help drive us forward – and we look forward to working with you through the rest of the year and beyond.