The Birmingham Insurance Institute
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President's Message 2024

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 12 months since we gathered for the 2023 Birmingham Insurance Institute AGM at The Grand Hotel, where Cat Harrison handed over the President’s chain to myself and I started my year as President.

Certainly big shoes to fill but I’ve been incredibly proud to serve the Birmingham Insurance Institute as President over the past 12 months.

We are the second largest Institute outside of London, with some 5000 members and one of the most rewarding aspects of the role is meeting the members. Over the course of the year, we’ve held a number of events getting members together – we hosted a summer networking /meet the Council event at the start of July– and it was lovely that we had people attend this event as their very first networking or BII event ever and how nice it was to have feedback about how friendly, welcoming and confidence boosting they found it.

We’ve carried on with our leading CPD events – both a mix of Face to Face and online – covering a broad range of subjects. Again, feedback has been excellent, and I’d like to thank Helen and the PD&E Committee for their hard work in putting these sessions on. We always welcome ideas from members as to subjects they’d like covering in the future, so please do reach out and let us know. We’d also like to hold more F2F ones and would be interested to know when works best for everyone given the change in work patterns that has occurred since Covid.

Other events included the YP’s quiz night in November which was a lot of fun and raised funds for the charity I chose for my Presidential year – the UK Sepsis Trust. There’s also a fundraising pool tournament going on tonight.

Talking of the charity, this leads me to our main fundraising event of the year, our annual dinner. This event, held at the end of February raised over £3k for the charity. It was a spectacular night and a massive success all round. Dr Ron Daniels the CEO of the Charity, gave an impassioned speech about Sepsis and the work the Charity undertakes and for me as a sepsis survivor, the opportunity to spread awareness of this awful condition, often known as the ‘silent killer’ was invaluable. I would take the opportunity again here to thank Ian Harris for his hard work in making the dinner the success it is.

In addition to the dinner, the other highlight of the year for me was the Exam Awards night we held at the Birmingham Council House in October. I am extremely passionate about insurance as a career and about promoting it as a profession recognised on a par with law and accountancy. It was absolutely wonderful therefore to hand out Certificates and awards to those individuals achieving success in the CII exams. It was particularly lovely to see a lady bring along her 5 year old son as her guest so he could see why she had been studying hard at the kitchen table after work and what she had achieved.

All in all, it’s been quite a year, and I will look back on it with a great deal of pride and very fond memories. I’d like to end therefore with a massive thank you to all officers and members of Council for their support and guidance over the last 12 months. It has been an absolute pleasure to work alongside you.

Subject to ratification, I’m delighted to be handing over the reins for the coming 12 months to Kris Vind. Kris has served on Council for a number of years now as the PFS representative and in recognition that the BII is for both General Insurance members and financial services, it’s great that Kris is taking the Presidential role. I wish him all the very best for his tenure and I know all of us on Council will fully support him.

Thank you.

Angela Irvine ACII

24th April 2024

 

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.