Q&A: David Haggie, Partner, Haggie Partners
Haggie Partners is celebrating its 40th anniversary. How did the journey begin?
I was the finance director of a public company in the early 1980s when I was approached to run a financial communications business. It combined financial public relations, design and advertising, and after a few years I realised that I wanted to build something of my own.
In the mid-1980s, I started Haggie Partners. We began with a small team, supporting public companies that needed advice on financial communications, investor relations, and reputation. The business was built around the idea of helping organisations explain complex issues clearly and effectively.
How did Haggie Partners develop its specialism in insurance and reinsurance?
Financial services was always an important part of our business, partly because of my own financial background. From early on we were well-placed to advise investment managers, banks and other financial organisations because we understood their businesses, before becoming increasingly involved in the insurance sector over time.
This process began in the early 1990s via our relationships with companies connected to Lloyd’s and the wider market. As a result, we found ourselves working with a greater number of insurance businesses, and that became a natural area of expertise.
The insurance market is highly specialised. Understanding the language and the way the industry operates is vital. For this reason, we deliberately recruited highly talented colleagues who had backgrounds in and understood the sector – enabling us to act in the advisory capacity which clients expect.
What benefits does being a specialist agency bring compared with being a generalist?
The advantage is knowledge and understanding. Financial services companies operate in complex markets, and they need advisers who understand the issues they are facing.
In insurance, companies often work alongside competitors, partners, and other stakeholders across the same ecosystem. This unique combination of collaboration and competition means reputation and trust are incredibly important in the industry.
The reputation we have built is one of the reasons we have been successful. Clients know that if they come to us with confidential information, it remains confidential. That trust is everything.
How do insurance and reinsurance clients approach PR today?
The role of PR has evolved. Historically, financial communication was very focused on results announcements, transactions, and quarterly reporting. Today, there is a much broader focus on reputation, positioning, and ensuring organisations have a strong voice in their markets.
Clients come to us because they want to improve their reputation, increase their visibility or communicate more effectively with their audiences. Our role is to understand their objectives and find the best way to achieve them.
How has PR changed over the last 40 years?
The fundamentals have stayed the same. Ultimately, journalists are looking for a good story, and our role is to help organisations communicate those good stories effectively.
What has changed is the speed and the method by which information is delivered. Earlier in my career, news could take 24 hours to appear. Today, information is instantaneous.
The rise of digital media, social platforms and multimedia content has transformed communications. Organisations now need to think across multiple channels and consider how they engage different audiences.
How has the changing media landscape affected the relationship between PR and journalism?
The relationship remains important because journalists are still looking for stories that matter to their audiences. What has changed is the way stories are consumed and distributed.
The media environment is instantaneous, and businesses need to be prepared to communicate quickly and effectively. However, the fundamentals of good journalism remain the same: accuracy, relevance and credibility.
What does the future look like for Haggie Partners?
We already work for clients across EMEA and the Americas and would like to develop the Pacific region. We are actively looking at opening offices in some of these regions because we see significant opportunities to continue growing in the markets where we already have expertise.
After 40 years, our focus remains on understanding the needs of our clients, communicating complex issues clearly and building trust.
I am incredibly fortunate to have a fantastic team of communications professionals, design specialists, and social media experts around me. They are the reason we continue to move forward, and I am excited about what comes next.