Scottish broker makes £1.5m acquisition

Central Insurance Services has acquired high performance car insurance specialist, Peart Insurance Brokers in a 1.5 million deal.

Scottish broker Central Insurance said Peart and its trading arm, Performance Marque, has extensive experience in the prestige and classic vehicle insurance market covering luxury brands such as Porsche, Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Ferrari and Maserati.

The deal, which was supported by The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) will see Cumbrian-based Peart continue to trade under the Peart and Performance Marque brands as part of the Central Insurance umbrella. Peart has an estimated 7000 policy holders and its 12-strong staff will join the Central Insurance payroll.

Aberdeen based Central Insurance say the deal provided a valuable add-on service which will benefit existing high net worth private clients who own or have invested in high performance or classic cars.

The Peart acquisition strengthens Central Insurance's policy of retaining its independent status while seeking growth opportunities through strategic acquisitions.

Central Insurance managing director, Iain Henry, said: "Peart and Performance Marque are well established and highly respected as specialist motor insurance providers in England and we identified a gap in the Scottish market to provide the same services.

"It is an excellent fit with our existing household insurance and commercial insurance business arms. A significant number of our clients are high net worth individuals and this further strengthens our presence in the prestige and classic car market and gives us a competitive advantage."

Henry said Peart would continue to operate from its Kendal headquarters as a separate Financial Services Authority approved entity. An ongoing exchange of staff between Aberdeen and Kendal will develop expertise across both locations.

He added: "The deal underlines our determination to protect our position as Scotland's largest independent insurance broker while seeking out growth opportunities that fit with our core commercial and retail insurance business.

"We are looking forward to welcoming the team at Peart in to the Central Insurance fold and they have been reassured by the fact that we are an independently owned concern who have been in the business for 35 years and which can bring strength and depth to their existing offering."