In 1959, Robert Purves Limited was founded as a Commercial Insurance Brokerage by Bob Purves. In 1979 Robert Purves succeeded his father as President and is currently the company’s Chairman. In 2003, Peter Redmond joined the Brokerage as a full Partner and the company name was changed to reflect the two named Partners, Purves and Redmond. Today, Peter serves as President and CEO of Purves Redmond Limited (PRL), a privately owned company with over ten active shareholders.
Since 2003, the company has grown considerably by increasing the number of staff, office locations and the type of services offered to its clients including the addition of PRL Benefits Limited, a subsidiary company that offers group benefits and retirement planning services. While the Toronto office continues to be the company’s largest, PRL also has a presence in Port Hope, Sudbury, Montreal and Vancouver. The company has attracted commercial clients in all of Canada’s major industries—from mining to waste management to retail—as well as personal high net worth clients. PRL maintains an extensive reciprocal network of foreign brokers, allowing it to efficiently serve clients with international operations.
Building a Multi-Faceted Business
Peter recalls that, at first, the biggest insurance portfolios were transportation and waste management clients with a small portfolio of general industry clients making up the balance of the business. Today, PRL’s business is roughly divided up into thirds. “We built on the waste management and transportation/bussing sector so that is a much bigger portfolio now: it’s 30 per cent of our revenue,” Peter describes. Mining, which wasn’t part of the company in 2003, now represents 33 per cent of today’s revenue. “Other industries—everything from large restaurant chains to technology companies—account for the balance of the business,” says Peter.
What Does PRL Bring to the Table?
PRL puts its focus on mid to large sized clients with more complex insurance needs. This means that PRL competes directly with large, multi-national insurance brokers who are often based outside of Canada in cities such as New York or London. “We like the fact that we’re different than multi-nationals,” Peter says. “We feel that we can be much more client-focused and nimble, able to quickly react to fulfill our clients’ needs without the red tape. Plus, we’re closer to our clients locally than our competitors would tend to be.” While there are several commercial insurance brokers of a similar size to PRL within Canada, very few of them, if any, focus on the type of complex accounts that PRL likes to take on.
A Service and Client-Based Approach to Insurance
Above all, PRL is client-focused and committed to service excellence, two values that set the company apart from its competitors. PRL provides quick, customizable service and is staffed by industry experts. While Peter considers sales to be important, he says the company’s mandate is to build a service organization. “We spend a lot of time getting the service side of the organization right—that’s our priority,” he says. “That’s how we attract clients. We find that if we get the service side right, the sales become easier. Our existing clients become our biggest advocates when it comes to sales.” Building on knowledge gained from more than 50 years in the business, PRL is well-positioned to continue to grow for the next 50—and beyond.
