It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Ian Frank Micklethwaite, original founder of IFM Insurance Brokers.
At 88 years of age, Ian passed away peacefully on Thursday 7th July. Ian was a proud Yorkshireman and known as a true gentlemen with a good sense of humour. He was an able and talented sportsman, quick witted, sharp of mind and had a heart of gold. He was a great raconteur and loved entertaining an audience with his cheeky grin and laconic comic timing.
Ian formed the business with his wife Shirley back in 1975. Ian had an illustrious insurance career, qualifying in Leeds and working in Manchester before moving to the City of London to work with some of the largest National insurance brokers of the day. A native of Yorkshire and a lover of the Peak District he decided to move back towards his roots and started the business from his tiny office of their new family home in Hathersage.
Ian’s natural charm and wit plus his undoubted skill, experience and knowledge soon made him a trusted aide to the Sheffield business community and the business grew quickly along with his reputation and good standing. Unsurprisingly, the business soon outgrew the confines of home and moved to Sheffield, where it remains to this day.
As skilled and hard working as Ian and Shirley were they soon needed help to continue the growth of the business and Ian set about assembling a team of highly qualified and highly respected staff from other renowned brokers and major insurers in the Sheffield market. This team continued the good work of its founders and the business became established as a premier commercial brokerage in the Sheffield area.
Ian’s hard work ably backed by his successors as MD, Steve Walker, David Biggs and Mark Barlow, meant that professionalism and customer care was primary and the longevity and stability of relationships was always very important. The fundamentals of what Ian and Shirley created remain an essential part of the IFM ethos today. Ian never lost touch with the business and the people within it even many years after retirement. Every year the firm has a Christmas Lunch with Ian and Shirley top of the invitation list. Ian’s post lunch ‘thank you’ to the Directors was always a highlight for everyone in attendance and his delivery was the stuff of legend.
Mark Barlow, managing director of IFM said “There was only one Ian Frank Micklethwaite, the Chairman. He will be sorely missed and will remain much loved and remembered by all who knew him”
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