Owner: Matt Bartlett, Director | Format: standing commitments and SLA for media engagements
This file sets out the response-time commitments and engagement formats Apex offers to journalists, podcasters and trade-press editors. It exists so that a media enquiry can be answered the same hour it lands, with the right format and within a workable diary.
The commitments below apply to media work specifically. They do not affect client servicing, which sits with Chrissie Anderson and the rest of the team under the firm’s normal hours.
Trade press enquiries — same-working-day acknowledgement, response with substantive answer or quote within 24 working hours. Where a journalist is working to a same-day deadline, Apex will treat the request as urgent and aim to respond within two hours during normal working hours.
Podcast booking enquiries — within 48 working hours, including confirmation of slot, format and any pre-call brief required.
Awards body enquiries — within 48 working hours, including confirmation of categories Apex is entering or supporting and any supporting evidence required.
Sponsorship and partnership announcements — within 48 working hours for the announcement copy, longer where the partnership itself is under negotiation.
Direct journalist questions sent via HARO, ResponseSource or similar — within the journalist’s stated deadline, prioritised by relevance and Apex’s depth on the topic.
Standard hours for media work: Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 6.00pm. Outside these hours, Apex will acknowledge same-day for genuinely urgent breaking news enquiries (regulatory announcement, market-moving FCA publication, major incident in the broking market) and respond as soon as practical.
Holiday cover: when the Director is on leave for more than two working days, an out-of-office reply will name the cover contact in the firm and the route for urgent media enquiries.
The Director is available in five engagement formats:
In-person interview — at the QCS office in Bristol, or at the journalist’s office if in Bristol, London or by reasonable travel from Bristol. Travel beyond a working day’s reach is by arrangement and may need to be booked further ahead.
Video interview — by Microsoft Teams, Zoom or Google Meet. Apex has a usable office setup for video with even lighting and clean background. A pre-shared agenda or list of questions is welcomed but not required.
Voice-only interview — by phone or by voice-only video call. This is the standard format for podcast recordings where the host runs the audio capture, and for radio appearances.
Written quote on a journalist’s specific question — Apex will provide a quote of the requested length (a short pull-quote, a paragraph, or a longer position) attributed in full to “Matt Bartlett, Director, Apex Insurance Brokers Limited”. Written quotes are turned around faster than interviews and are the preferred format where the journalist’s piece needs a single perspective rather than a conversation.
Long-form briefing note — Apex will provide a structured briefing for a journalist working on a long feature, drawing on the Section 4 Q&A notes in this pack. Briefing notes are off-the-record by default unless the journalist specifically requests an attributable version.
Apex will, on the record:
Speak to the structure and direction of the UK PI market on the basis of placement experience through the 2021-2025 hard cycle and the 2026 softening. Quote the rejection-rate language Apex has used in its quarterly proposal-form commentary. Speak to the broker-versus-direct question, the Insurance Act 2015 fair-presentation duty, the Building Safety Act 2022 impact on designers, the cyber-PI overlap, and the broker-buyer relationship for SME clients.
Confirm Apex’s FCA permissions, Companies House registration, BIBA membership status, trading address and the named individuals at the firm. Confirm the sectors Apex services and the geographic reach. Confirm the broad shape of the content estate Apex has built (~830,000 words across pillar, sector, proposal-form and market-commentary content).
Apex will not, on the record:
Name a specific client or quote a client without that client’s written permission. Quote a specific claim or its handling. Name a specific insurer in a critical context without the insurer’s right of reply being arranged. Provide a market position number Apex cannot substantiate. Comment on a competing broker by name unless the comment is factual and publicly defensible. Speak outside the topics named in the bio file (file 01) without preparation — Apex would rather decline a piece than under-deliver on it.
For interviews longer than 15 minutes, Apex prefers a short written brief 24 hours ahead — the topic, the angle, the publication, the expected length of the piece, and any specific questions the journalist plans to lead with. The brief is not a script; it is a working document so that the interview goes deeper, faster.
For podcast recordings, Apex prefers a pre-call of 15-20 minutes ahead of the actual recording session, scheduled in the same week. The pre-call covers the host’s flow, the questions, and any pre-agreed boundaries on what is and is not on the table.
Recordings are permitted for any format Apex agrees to. Apex does not require pre-publication approval rights for direct quotes drawn from an interview — the editorial judgment sits with the publication. Apex does ask for the right to review any factual claim attributed to Apex (membership, FCA permissions, sector specialism, content estate scope, partnership status) before publication, to catch correctable errors.
For podcast recordings, Apex retains the right to ask for an edit only where a factual claim has been mis-stated or where a client or insurer would be identifiable in a way Apex did not authorise. Otherwise the host’s edit stands.
Media bookings to the Director directly at matthew.bartlett@apexinsurancebrokers.co.uk or by phone on 0117 325 0027. Bookings will be acknowledged within the SLA above. For partner organisations running a media announcement involving Apex (sponsorships, charity partnerships, joint comment pieces), please copy in the Director on initial drafts and brief the timing one working week ahead of the announcement where possible.
For media enquiries: Matt Bartlett, Director — matthew.bartlett@apexinsurancebrokers.co.uk — 0117 325 0027. Apex Insurance Brokers Limited, FCA FRN 724952, Companies House 07014570. Trading address: QCS, 53 Queen Charlotte Street, Bristol BS1 4HQ.
Last reviewed: June 2026.
Apex Insurance Brokers serves UK professional services firms and commercial businesses. Call 0117 325 0027, email hello@apexinsurancebrokers.co.uk, or request a quotation.
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