Last month Dominic Limbrey, creator of the Poura, was Mark Stevenson’s guest at the annual IPAN event at the Houses of Parliament in Westminster. This was an invaluable event for Dominic, coming as it did at a time when he was focused on filing for a number of international patents for his innovative pouring and stoppering device for spirits and olive oil.
The fact that the managing director of Anthony Jones extended the invitation to Dominic demonstrates the nature of the relationship between insurance broker and customer. It perfectly illustrates the genuine understanding by the broker of this business customer’s needs and the stage they’ve reached in the lifecycle of their business.
Dominic set up the Poura business 18 months ago, following a meeting with an associate who is his partner in the business. Dominic is particularly enjoying the experience of being part of this business as it is giving him the chance to use his skills and knowledge in industrial design, a subject area he studied at university.
He’s no stranger to running a business though. Poura becomes his third successful business venture. He already owns D1, the five year old gin and vodka brand, through which the Poura idea was spawned. He is also co-owner of 3O, a business set up in 2003 to provide SMEs with a platform through which they can aggregate their procurement requirements and reap the cost-saving benefits of bulk purchasing.
Employing around 25 people across the three business operations, Dominic views his relationship with Anthony Jones as an extension of his business, it is a true partnership.
“I am hugely appreciative of the experience of the Anthony Jones team. They offer me a scale of support that more than fulfils my requirement,” explains Dominic. He meets with Mark and other members of the Anthony Jones team two or three times a year, talking about the businesses in depth. “It’s definitely not just a ‘once-a-year-renewal’ transactional relationship.”
Anthony Jones has looked after the insurance for all of Dominic’s businesses for many years. While Dominic hopes that by having patents in place it will stop the replication of his Poura product, there is no guarantee this won’t happen. This means that Intellectual Property (IP) insurance is a very important part of the protection of the business.
As well as IP insurance, Dominic has business insurance protection which includes Marine insurance, Events insurance, Public, Employer’s and Product Liability insurance, and Directors & Officer’s insurance. However, it’s the IP insurance he sees as being the most important because he believes this is the one he’s most likely to need in the future.
Assessing the risks his businesses face, Dominic concludes: “As a small family-run business, without protection we could get wiped out. I’m not prepared to take a gamble on that. The businesses represent my future livelihood, those of my business partners and our employees. We can’t afford not to protect those.”
