Aston Lark picks up four offices with Jobson James acquisition

Aston Lark has announced its acquisition of Jobson James Insurance Brokers and its specialist employee benefits practice Jobson James Consulting.

Jobson James was established in 2010 and has four offices located in the Midlands, writing around £30m gross written premium annually. They currently employ 43 staff across their offices located in Birmingham, Dudley, Leominster and Kidderminster.  The business is led by Martin James and five directors who will all continue in their existing roles, along with existing staff.

Jobson James, like Aston Lark, has chartered status, and has a broad expertise across commercial and private client. It has specialisms within the rail, real estate and trade credit sectors.

Aston Lark said Jobson James Consulting will also complement the broker’s employee benefits division, supporting clients with private medical, group risk and pension services.

The deal takes Aston Lark’s group gross written premium to £330m, and its number of offices to 25.

Product range

Aston Lark chief executive Peter Blanc told Insurance Times earlier this year that he was looking for more private equity investment to support the broker’s ambitious growth aims. With this acquisition, he said it would widen the group’s product range and technical knowledge.

Blanc said: “It’s fantastic to add another Chartered insurance broker into the Aston Lark family. 

“The foundations of our business are based on caring for our clients and providing appropriate advice and guidance on insurance and employee benefits solutions.

“It’s positive Martin and his team share these professional standards and we can work with another like-minded broker to widen our product range and technical knowledge within Aston Lark, all while supporting their own growth plans and giving them access to our own specialities to benefit clients in the Midlands.” 

This is the third acquisition of 2019 for Aston Lark following the recent purchases of Robertson Low and Highworth Insurance.

James added: “Aston Lark was a compelling choice as the new home for the Jobson James team.

“It is clear that they completely understand what being an independent broker is all about – we speak the same language and share the same focus of always doing the very best we can for all our clients.

“The whole acquisition process has been handled with great professionalism and care and we now look forward to supporting the continued growth ambitions of the Aston Lark group”.