Group seeks to capitalise on gap in mid-capital sector
Synergy Plus Group, established to acquire a group of insurance brokers, has successfully completed its first acquisition following the purchase of CUS Underwriting.
CUS, based in Bradford, places over £6m of insurance premiums annually, with a focus on both wholesale and retail small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) clients.
The Synergy insurance broking model involves further insurance acquisitions as the company aims to quickly enter the UK’s Top 100 Broker list. The company is targeting a total network of some 25-30 local brokers, which typically will have a turnover of between £0.5m and £1.5m with growth potential. Each business will maintain its own identity while at the same time being part of a larger group.
Those benefits include the usual central compliance, and other operational and IT synergies. Other benefits include strategic sales and marketing support and the availability of other specialised products.
David Atkinson, chief executive of Synergy Plus said: “Despite significant consolidation in the insurance industry over recent years, the market remains quite fragmented and we feel that there is an excellent opportunity to exploit a gap in the mid-capital sector. This is just the start – we are aiming to acquire another four brokers over the next 12 months and to accelerate the programme in years two and three.
"Our plan is to become a national, independent insurance brokerage through a programme of both acquisition and organic growth. We have already identified a number of additional partners – all successful local brokers providing excellent service to SMEs.”
Atkinson added: "We will be targeting our membership amongst the smaller brokers who can grow their local client network and turnover through increased levels of service. To help them achieve this we will offer strategic levels of marketing and business development support to our partner brokers."
