Caledon Group acquires specialist broker

Insurance business investment firm Caledon Group (CGL) has acquired travel and wedding specialist Voyager Insurance Services.

Voyager was founded in Guildford in 1996 as a wholesale and retail insurance broker and has a team of 25 people.

CGL founding director David Whitaker has been appointed managing director of Voyager as part of the deal.

“We are excited to work with the excellent team at Voyager, initially to provide continuity and ultimately to take the business to the next level, building on the solid foundations that are already in place,” Whitaker said.

Stepping down

Whitaker’s new responsibilities will see Voyager’s former managing director Stephen Cox, as well as co-founder and sales director John Peters, step down from the broker’s board of directors.

Voyager stated both Cox and Peters will remain with the business for the rest of the year to support the transition and the incoming executive.

Cox said the move was a “key moment in Voyager’s journey”.

“Since Voyager’s inception in 1996 to source travel insurance solutions for wholesale clients, the business has continually evolved, successfully moving into direct, aggregator and affinity markets,” he added.

“The time was right for John and me to step away from the business and we have every confidence that the CGL team will continue to develop and grow the business, delivering a range of products ideally suited to our customers and business partners.”

New executive team

The deal has also seen Paul Davies be appointed finance director at Voyager and Stephen Bishop, who served as head of strategic accounts at Brown and Brown Europe, take on the role of commercial director.

Andrew Cross will remain chairman of Voyager and take up the same role at CGL.

Meanwhile, Voyager underwriting and broking director Chris Gooden has been promoted to the Voyager board.