Spotlight Session: Michelle Harness, JMG Insurance Brokers North West
Protecting What Businesses Are Building: How JMG Supports Businesses As They Grow
In this edition of Around the Chair Spotlight Sessions, Jonathan Barnes, Vice Chair of the CORE International Ecosystem, speaks with Michelle Harness, Managing Director of JMG Insurance Brokers Northwest, about helping businesses protect their assets and liabilities, the risks of underinsurance, and the value of having personal, professional advice throughout every stage of growth.
With more than 33 years’ experience in insurance, Michelle has built her career around supporting businesses. Her approach is centred on understanding each client properly, maintaining regular contact as their circumstances change, and ensuring their insurance continues to reflect the reality of the business.
“In my opinion there’s nothing more special than watching a business grow and being a part of their journey.”
Michelle Harness, Managing Director, JMG Insurance Brokers Northwest
A Career Built Around Helping Businesses
Jonathan: Michelle, tell us a little about yourself and your background.
Michelle: “I started my insurance career over 33 years ago now. I started off at Pearl Assurance, as a district office clerk and progressed into commercial insurance.
“My passion has always been helping businesses. I just love what I do and enjoy my role as Managing Director for JMG Insurance Brokers Northwest.”
Michelle’s interest in business began before she entered the insurance industry. At 16, she initially pursued a role in travel, where she discovered a fascination with learning how businesses operated and traded internationally.
Michelle: “I loved learning about businesses and how they trade internationally. I just found it really exciting to watch businesses develop and grow.
“I soon realised that the travel industry wasn’t for me and found myself working in insurance. I realised quite quickly that I really enjoyed being part of the insurance industry and found this is where I could help add value to so many businesses.”
Over three decades later, that motivation remains the same. Michelle is passionate about helping businesses navigate risk, protect what they have built and grow with confidence.
Protecting Businesses Against the Unexpected
Jonathan: For somebody hearing about your business for the first time, how would you describe what you do and the type of support you provide to clients?
Michelle: “We help businesses protect their assets and liabilities, so all their assets and all their liabilities in a nutshell.
“We protect their business against things that can happen such as fire, flood, theft, accidents and so on. We make sure that they have the correct insurance to protect their business. We’re also a face-to-face broker. We assess their insurance needs and also offer a cradle-to-grave personal service.”
JMG Insurance Brokers Northwest works with owner-managed businesses across a wide range of sectors. The team advises clients on the cover they need, identifies insurable risks, and helps them understand the conditions they must meet to remain compliant with their policy.
Michelle: “We have regular contact with our clients and ensure their insurance is aligned to the business growth and assets and activities. We ensure that our clients are aware of the conditions of the policy so that they can ensure they are compliant with the policy.”
Support Through Every Stage of Growth
Jonathan: Are there certain stages of growth and maturity where your support becomes especially important?
Michelle: “We add value where we can advise on risk and this would typically be where they have a premises, staff, process and machinery and where you couldn’t transact your insurance online.
“We provide expert advice throughout all the growth stages of a business. As the business changes and develops, the insurance cover needs to align.”
As a business grows, its risks can change quickly. Taking on premises, investing in machinery, employing staff, purchasing new equipment or changing the way the business operates may all affect the level and type of cover required.
For Michelle, insurance should not be treated as a once-a-year transaction. Ongoing professional advice and regular conversations help ensure businesses remain protected as their assets, activities and ambitions evolve.
Michelle: “On-hand professional insurance advice is continuous and we have a close relationship with our clients to ensure we are providing the right advice at the right times.”
The Risk of Underinsurance
Jonathan: What are some of the most common mistakes or challenges you see businesses facing in insurance?
Michelle: “One challenge for sure is underinsurance. We have seen this particularly in the property sector where reinstatement values have not been adequate.”
Underinsurance can become a serious issue when a property’s insured value does not reflect the true cost of rebuilding it. A business may believe it has sufficient cover, only to find that the policy does not fully meet the cost of reinstating the property following a major loss.
Michelle advises clients to obtain rebuild cost assessments, which help calculate an accurate reinstatement value. This should include not only the building itself, but professional fees, debris removal and other associated costs.
Michelle: “We advise our clients to obtain a rebuild cost assessment on their buildings to ensure the building is insured for the correct reinstatement costs, which include professional fees, removal of debris and associated costs, so that you are not subject to average by the insurer in the event of a claim.”
One Piece of Advice for Growing Businesses
Jonathan: The issues you have mentioned seem avoidable with the right planning and the right conversations upfront. Is that something you can help clients address?
Michelle: “Yes, absolutely. Tools such as a rebuild cost assessment are key. The report is a desktop survey and is less than £200 currently. This provides an accurate reinstatement value and will provide peace of mind.”
Michelle’s advice for business leaders is to avoid making assumptions about whether their insurance still reflects the reality of the business.
As a business grows, its premises, equipment, staff, activities and assets can all change. Without regular reviews and accurate valuations, there is a risk that cover will no longer be sufficient when it is needed most.
A rebuild cost assessment can help ensure a property is insured for its correct reinstatement value, including professional fees, debris removal and associated costs. This helps reduce the risk of underinsurance and the potential impact of an insurer applying average in the event of a claim.
Michelle: “As the business evolves, we walk alongside, ensuring they are protected.”
The simple message is to speak to your broker whenever something changes, rather than waiting for the annual renewal. Consistent communication and proactive reviews help keep insurance aligned with the business at every stage of its journey.
Personal, Professional Service
Jonathan: There are many firms operating in your sector. What would you say makes your approach different?
Michelle: “We visit our clients and give a personal professional service. We are passionate about looking after clients and about giving exceptional customer service.”
For JMG Insurance Brokers Northwest, building close client relationships is central to the service. Visiting clients and understanding their business first-hand makes it easier to identify changes, assess risks properly and offer relevant guidance.
This personal approach is particularly valuable for owner-managed businesses, where insurance requirements can become more complex as the organisation expands.
The Value of Joined-Up Professional Support
Jonathan: How important is joined-up advisory support when businesses are growing?
Michelle: “Well, it’s just so rare to even find that. Businesses need all sorts of professional support, and they have to go here, there and everywhere to try and source that.
“But to have a place or platform where professional services have collaborated to help the client is quite unique. It is joined-up and professional.”
Growing businesses often need advice across several areas at once, including finance, legal matters, HR, operations and insurance. Working with disconnected providers can make it harder to see the full picture or understand how one business decision may affect another area.
The Director’s Chair brings trusted specialists together around the client, creating a more connected source of expertise and support.
Jonathan: Is that one of the reasons the Director’s Chair appealed to you and JMG?
Michelle: “Yes, absolutely. We always want to be involved where we can provide our expertise and help navigate the complexities around insurance, and having other professional services certainly appealed to us.
“We definitely wanted to be a part of that because our customer service is paramount to what we do. It just fits for us.”
Recharging and Making a Difference
Jonathan: Outside of work, what keeps you motivated and passionate about what you do?
Michelle: “Outside of work, I like spending time with my dog, and taking him for walks and just getting outdoors because you’ve got to recharge your batteries and that’s my recharge.
“I spend most of my weekends out with my dog Maverick and enjoy having a pub lunch. He likes a good roast on a Sunday!”
For Michelle, spending time outdoors with Maverick provides a welcome opportunity to recharge away from the demands of work. That balance helps sustain the energy and enthusiasm she brings to supporting clients.
Jonathan: To finish off, what do you enjoy most about helping clients succeed?
Michelle: “In my opinion there’s nothing more special than watching a business grow and being a part of their journey.”
That sense of being part of a client’s journey sits at the heart of Michelle’s approach. By providing ongoing advice, maintaining close relationships and helping businesses understand their risks, JMG Insurance Brokers Northwest supports clients in protecting what they have built while moving forward with confidence.
Connect with JMG Insurance Brokers North West
JMG Insurance Brokers Northwest provides personal, professional insurance advice for owner-managed businesses across a range of sectors. From protecting property, assets and liabilities to reviewing cover as a business changes, Michelle and her team help clients ensure their insurance remains aligned with their needs.
As part of the Director’s Chair, JMG Insurance Brokers Northwest contributes specialist insurance expertise to a wider ecosystem of trusted advisers, all working collaboratively to support the businesses at the centre of it.
