Strong Growth for Insurance Broker
- Author: Elaine Maslin
- Published: 06/07/2010
Norwich based Insurance Brokers and Financial Advisers Alan Boswell Group recently won its largest single piece of business in over 26 years. The Eastern Daily Press (EDP) followed the story and kindly gave us permission to reproduce the article.
Norwich insurance broker Alan Boswell has said it is planning to expand its geographic footprint in the region after seeing business thrive ahead of the industry average.
The firm recently won its largest single piece of business since chairman Alan Boswell started the business 26 years ago.
It is to provide a healthcare scheme for the 2,500-member Anglia Farmers co-operative, an existing client of the group based in Honingham. It brings a turnover of £1.3m in premiums.
Mr Boswell said the firm had seen a growth rate of 12pc in 2009, a rate ahead of the 7pc average for the industry. It has also opened new offices in the city to accommodate rising staff numbers.
“The group remains acquisitive,” he said. “We are taking on staff and we plan to expand the geographical footprint of the business.
“We regularly take on more people as and when we need them and we plan to continue growing steadily over the coming months, very much as we have done for the last quarter of a century.”
The group, as one of the top 25 independent insurance brokers in the UK in the Insurance Age Top 100, said it has not ruled out the possibility of opening further offices across East Anglia in the near future.
It recently celebrated moving into 5,000 sq ft of new fully refurbished offices in a building dating back to the 1900s, which Mr Boswell bought in 100 Prince of Wales Road.
It is the firm’s second Norwich office and houses more than 30 staff from the company’s personal insurance and buy-to-let divisions and, more recently, its new business insurance team.
Its head office is in Thorpe Road and the group also has bases in Bury St Edmunds and Attleborough.
The firm has also made two new key appointments, with Chris Greaves taken on as business development manager and Sharon Coombs-Hoar as customer care manager.
Mr Greaves said: “The insurance industry is currently going through the ‘soft’ part of a periodic cycle and in these circumstances most brokers retrench and just try to hold on to what they have.
“Alan Boswell is bucking the trend by growing and adding new clients. When the market becomes more favourable we will be in a position to expand even more rapidly.
“The company is going from strength to strength. We are in a healthy position and can only get stronger.”
Another addition to the office is Jemima the elephant. She was one of the city’s Go Elephants! charity campaign and was bought for £25,000 by Mr Boswell at the subsequent auction, raising funds for the CLIC Sargent and Born Free Foundation charities.
She was painted by local awardwinning artist Susan Gunn, wife of former Norwich City manager Bryan Gunn.
“Jemima is very popular with both staff and visitors and provides a spectacular final touch to a superb makeover of a tremendous historic building,” said Mr Boswell.
More Information
Reproduced with permission of the EDP
Related Links