Life running one of NFU Mutual’s commercially-focused agencies in Northern Ireland – talking to Chris Donaldson

Chris Donaldson began his career as a Sales Associate in the NFU Mutal Agency Network straight out of university. But now as an Agent of NFU Mutual, he along with his business partners head one of just two designated commercially focused NFU Mutual agencies in the whole of Northern Ireland and is also a Group Manager for the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU). We caught up with Chris to chat about what it’s like running an agency as part of NFU Mutual Agency Network, and why it might be the right step for others looking for a self-employed role.

Thanks for your time today, Chris, can you start by telling us a bit about your background?
Well I was born on a farm, and my father is still an active farmer, so I grew up with a big interest in agriculture. When I was in sixth form at school, I told my careers advisor I wanted a job in anything to do with farming. So he connected me with someone who worked for the UFU, and I did a day or two of work experience shadowing one of their Policy Officers.

After my A-levels, I went to Harper Adams University in Shropshire to do an Agricultural Marketing degree, which included a placement year – and because I’d made UFU connections during my work experience, I asked if they’d let me do my placement year with them too. This gave me a good background into how the UFU functioned through their network of offices.

After I graduated, I wanted a role within the agricultural sector that also suited my degree. And luckily, the Senior Agent at my local NFU Mutual agency was the insurer for our family’s farm. So he knew I’d worked for the UFU, knew I was reliable and could work in a team, and most importantly, that I was looking for a job. I applied for the Sales Associate vacancy in the agency, was lucky to get the job, and I’ve been climbing the ladder ever since. Within three years I was a self-employed Agent of NFU Mutual, and now I’m Senior Partner in what’s now called the Armagh and Markethill Agency.

You’ve obviously got quite a strong agricultural background - how important is that as an Agent of NFU Mutual?
It’s nice to have, but I wouldn’t say it’s very important at all. I am aware of other agents who have no agricultural background who say that farmers and business owners in general, really enjoy explaining their businesses to you, and having no pre conceived ideas may in some cases be an advantage because these people are proud of their businesses and want to describe everything to you in detail.

I’d also say that the training you get as an Agent is second to none, so a lot of that basic knowledge is covered. Plus, you become part of a really supportive team. From my perspective, thinking about what I need within my agency partnership, I look for people from backgrounds such as human resources, finance, or accountancy. We’re on the brink of becoming a £20 million business - I don’t know how well it’d be run if we were all from the same background, we need a broad range of knowledge and skills from both farming and non-farming sectors to continually grow.

What support do you get from NFU Mutual?
We receive excellent support from NFU Mutual, and it’s continually improving and adapting to our requirements. There’s a huge resource of different specialists, from Marketing and IT to High Net Worth and Risk Management Services, that we can contact whenever we need them. We also get lots of good management information, like data that we can react to, which provides insight into where we can change elements of our business if something isn’t performing as well as it should. Our agency is quite a large one, so we’re lucky to have our own Underwriter on-site, which is fantastic. Not many brokers have that.

There’s also the Sales Development Manager (SDM), who we meet every month - they’re our link to head office. We can contact our dedicated SDM if we have any challenges, or we can run things past them, for example, if we’re trying to grow an element of our business. As mentioned previously, we are a Commercially Focused Agency, clearly NFU Mutual recognised our potential, so now we’ve got some extra support, including specialist sales training. So I feel very supported, NFU Mutual has always helped make things as easy and smooth as they can.

How did you find the transition from employee to running your own business?
I’ve always liked managing teams. Thinking about how to communicate with different people and different teams is one element that hasn’t really changed throughout my career and is something I really enjoy as an Agent. Becoming senior partner in 2023 has meant I have more involvement in the financial aspect of the agency such as budgeting, financial planning, payroll, paying bills, keeping an eye on cash flow – these are all things that I didn’t really do before. But I’ve got good support from our accountant to make sure I get it right.

I’ve always believed that you should never be scared of employing people who are smarter than you. I’ve got a lot of great people around me who are smarter than me and who I get help from – that’s teamwork. Each of my Agent partners have their own skills and different responsibilities, but we’re all aligned and moving in the same direction. Our aspirations align with each other and with NFU Mutual, and we perform well as an agency. I think that gives us the freedom to run things how we want to – nobody’s enforcing certain rules or demanding change.

You’re also a Group Manager for the UFU – how does that tie in with your Agent role?
In terms of time and income, although it’s a small aspect of my work, it underpins and informs many of the interactions I have with customers. When I’m on a call or a visit, there’s an element where I’m there as UFU Group Manager, because I can give certain support if there’s a problem with, say, planning or the Department of Agriculture. As an agency, we’re big advocates for the UFU – we believe in it, and we try to sell the benefits to our customers. And I think UFU association helps our brand – we’re able to signpost any customers who need extra support and sometimes be actively involved in helping them too. In return, we get good support from them. We actually had a member of staff in the agency who was having some issues with her family farm, and she was able to get support through the UFU, which felt like an immediate satisfaction that we were doing things right.

Thanks again for talking to us, Chris. One final question - what do you enjoy most about being an Agent of NFU Mutual?
I would say the variety. It’s a cliché and I hear it all the time, but every day is different. Like this morning, I’ve been finishing calls I started yesterday, reviewing queries, looking at our agency accounts, and banking. Later on, I’m going out to see a customer or two. Next week we’ve got a couple of staff development meetings and then our team is taking part in a charity fundraiser for the Northern Ireland Air Ambulance. But the other thing about this job is being able to build relationships with customers and grow along with them.

Join us on our journey
Just like Chris, you too can grow your own agency, contribute to your local community, and take control of your future as an Agent of NFU Mutual. So take a look at our latest opportunities or sign up for job alerts by email.