Insurance broker for sports stars and super-rich

The day before, she had been rifling through a Premiership footballer's massive watch collection, discovered in socks under his mattress. Before that, she'd been picking through a black duffle bag containing another player's multi-million-pound bling.

Desperate times in the City hadn't led Small, 33, to a second career as a burglar. She was, in fact, accompanied by the homeowners, listing their valuables in order to organise new insurance policies.

By building an insurance brokerage that targets Britain's super-rich, including Premiership footballers, business tycoons, TV and film stars, Small's MWA Insurance, set up in 2004, has built up revenues of £6 million a year.

"People like footballers are tough to insure for conventional firms," says Small, who lives in Brentwood, Essex.

"Say with car insurance, a lot of these guys are new drivers, but instead of starting with a Vauxhall Corsa or Ford Fiesta, they buy a Bentley or Ferrari - or both. Plus footballers don't exactly get the best press, and any crashes could well involve high-profile passengers, so insurers generally don't want to expose themselves.

"But as we have 1000 footballers on our books, plus club owners, chairmen, rugby players, racing drivers, snooker and darts players and cricketers, there's a big enough critical mass to take on the business. We work with insurers like Hiscox to develop specialist, high-net-worth policies."

Much of MWA's lucre comes from locker room recommendations.

"We pride ourselves on being able to insure almost anything from one-off pieces of art to bespoke supercars," says Small.

"We've never advertised, all of our business is word of mouth. The dressing room is the best form of advertising for us. Agents, player liaison staff at clubs, financial advisors, accountants and lawyers also recommend us."

MWA, which is based on the outskirts of north London, offers all kinds of policies, from home insurance - "they're not normally small, terraced semis" - to career-ending insurance for footballers, "like a critical illness policy for normal people".

Small adds that she now works "harder than ever before" which is something of a paradox since her business came about after she left the City to concentrate on looking after her family.

"After leaving school at 16 I worked as an equity trader for a Nordic investment bank," she explains.

"I then moved to ABN Amro and climbed the corporate ladder, but after 10 years of working 13 hours a day, my husband - who is also a banker - and I decided it wasn't fair to bring children into the world when neither of us would see them. So I gave up work."

While on maternity leave Small was approached by a friend about investing in a high-net worth insurance start-up.

"I liked the idea, and respected the guy," she says. "I looked at the market and found there were high-net-worth brokers out there - our main competitors are the likes of Willis, Marsh and RK Harrison - but they were big companies, and I thought there was a niche for an insurer specialising in the wealthy sportsmen market."

Small invested £70,000 of her savings for a 50% stake in the business, initially as a purely financial backer, but became more involved.

Last year she bought out her partner for "multiple six figures" and now owns the whole business.

"Insurance is hugely male-dominated," she says. "At industry functions, I'm generally the only woman there. But sometimes I think women can be our own worst enemy, using our sex as an excuse rather than advantage. I think of it as a novelty. People remember me. That makes it easier to do business.

"I enjoy making it in the testosterone-fuelled football industry. This year, I've challenged my colleagues to a military assault course race.

"Unsurprisingly, they are all training hard so they are not beaten by a girl."