J001010 - Lycetts Newsletter Jan 2024 LR - Flipbook - Page 8
NORT H E R N
I NSIGH TS
Lycetts northern region stretches from Northumberland and Cumbria in the north down through
Lancashire and into Yorkshire. Newcastle, however, is where it all began. There has been a Lycetts
o昀케ce in the city since Michael Lycett 昀椀rst started trading back in 1961 and it remains the Head
O昀케ce for the company, as well as for the Northern Region. The Lycetts Yorkshire o昀케ce opened in
2015. Since then, it has continued to grow and prosper, recently relocating to modern and larger
premises in Catterick. Neil McGuire, Regional Director of the Northern Region, looks at recent
regional developments as well as future plans and ambitions.
Neil McGuire
Regional Director,
Northern Region
Q. Can you give us a brief overview
of Lycetts Northern Region
The Newcastle office is Lycetts biggest by some way. It
houses the main head office functions such as finance
and management. Additionally, it is the head office for
Lycetts Financial Services and central services teams of
Agricultural Motor, Claims and internal Underwriting.
My remit, as Regional Director, is the people
management and revenue growth of the General
Insurance division in the north. In Newcastle we have
strong Private Client and Commercial teams providing
professional advice to farms and estates, household
and commercial clients. At Bank House in Newcastle we
currently have a team of 30 staff and in Catterick 11.
Catterick has a strong rural focus, but also the ability to
draw on expertise from all the other departments
based in Newcastle.
Q. When did you join Lycetts and what
is your main role today?
I have been with Lycetts for 23 years having joined to
take on a role to help convert new business in the
Commercial division (as it was then). Having progressed
to account executive, I became Divisional and later
Regional Director in 2020. As mentioned earlier, my role
is to support my heads of office and team leaders to
deliver our targeted revenue growth, ensuring our staff
are energised and engaged in their work so that we
deliver the best possible outcomes for our clients.
08
Q. The company has recently completed the
move to Bank House after 60 years at
Milburn House. Why was the move necessary
and what have the main advantages been?
The decision to move was not taken lightly, but we
felt the time was right to upgrade to modern premises
that offered an excellent working environment for
our people. Not only do we now have a modern office
that supports our IT infrastructure, but the open
plan office layout is already generating greater
collaboration between teams and improving internal
communications. In addition it has created the
opportunity for our people to get to know their
colleagues in other departments and build better
working relationships. Bank House also serves as a
statement of our long-term commitment to the North
East and this follows on from the Catterick team moving
into a modern refurbished office space at Colburn
Business Park during the height of Covid in 2020.
Q. What do you see as the main strengths
of the Northern Region?
The Northern Region team combines a huge amount
of knowledge and experience within the workforce,
many having been with the company for years and who
consequently know the local region inside out. As the
longest established office, we look after clients who
have been with the company a long time, and
particularly within the Rural sector often spanning
