b"He quickly learned that his clients valued integrity above all elsea lesson he held dear throughout his career. I always had great respect and trust for my clientsthey're the two fundamentals, he says.John spent five years in Port Pirie, gaining experience and knowledge. Alongside his professional life, Port Pirie held a special place in his heart because his son, Paul, was born there. He made many good friends,Another factor was the inability of the major insurersincluding professional colleagues who would workto come to grips with workers compensation insurance. alongside him for decades to come. The South Australian Government introduced a revised Workers Compensation Act in 1971, increasing payable His time in Pirie ended in 1973 when John was secondedamounts and broadening the grounds for compensation. to Adelaides northern suburbs as an account executive,The new laws wreaked havoc, especially among small overseeing the premium-rich market garden traders andand medium-sized businesses, creating the perfect related support services such as transport. The plan wasscenario for brokers to eat the big insurers lunch.for John to head up a new executive accounts division, handling the firms larger direct accounts in Adelaide. His Port Pirie experience was still in his mind. The 6 freedom to run his own show, even if only as a branch However, John quickly saw that insurance companiesmanager, resonated with John's entrepreneurial spirit. like South British United were fighting a rearguardI liked the independence and accountability thataction against a nascent competitor. He was familiarcame with it, he says. with insurance brokers from his brief time with Harvey Trinder a few years back. Now, he was seeing up closeHe had also gained confidence from the urging how the flexibility of brokers enabled them to provideof a friend and medico, John Wyett, who had just clients with far better deals than the major insurerscommenced his own business in industrial medicine. could. He was frustrated that these brokers took Lifelong family friend Robert Wellington, who was so many of his companys clients. running an AMP life insurance agency in his own right, also provided encouragement and referred clientsfrom his life insurance book. Robert worked alongside John for a short time before pursuing a career in theoil industry.John departed United halfway through 1975 andbriefly spent time with the Clive Sperling broking firm. With the changes apparent in the industry, His Port Pirie experience was still in his mind. The freedom to run his own show, even if only as a branch manager, resonated with his entrepreneurial spirit."