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21st RK Harrison Group

Management: Under the nine-year reign of chief executive Paul Bridgwater, the employee-owned insurance and reinsurance broker has grown steadily. According to RK Harrison’s last reported results for the year to 30 June 2011, revenue grew 14% to £76.6m and operational profit was £19.5m.

Strategy: In June, the London broker secured £30m in refinancing. The funds will support its strategy of ongoing acquisitions, which has so far included the purchase of the Gibbs Hartley Cooper business (formerly HSBC Insurance Brokers) from Marsh.

22nd Jelf

Management: Chief executive, insurance, Phil Barton announced profit after tax of £1.1m in the six months to 31 March 2012, up 41% on £810,000 for the same period last year. Revenues were flat at £35.2m (H1 2011: £35m), but EBITDA was up 5% to £4.4m.

Strategy: Jelf has moved ahead of its consolidator rivals after integrating the business and reducing its net debt to £1.1m from £10m in 2011. It is now focusing on growing its affinity business.

23rd Endsleigh Insurance Services

Management: Managing director Ian Passmore announced a slight decline in performance in the year to 31 December 2011. Turnover was £52.7m compared with £54.5m for 2010. Profit was also down to £8.38m against the previous year’s £9.5m. Nonetheless, it managed to advance two places in this year’s Top 50 rankings.

Strategy: Parent company Zurich announced plans to transfer its books of personal lines business for direct partnerships to Endsleigh in May. Accompanied by almost 400 job cuts by Zurich in the UK, the move prompted speculation that the insurer may be planning to exit the British market, although the firm has denied this.

24th Barbon Insurance

Management: A management overhaul took place at Barbon following the FSA’s investigation into the sale of contents insurance via its HomeLet business. HomeLet managing director John Boyle was dismissed in March but he was reportedly appealing the decision. Boyle has been replaced by former Letsure managing director Ian Fraser.

Chief executive Martin Oliver is also set to leave this autumn to join the A&A Group. He will be replaced by former Cigna European division chief executive of life, accident and health Mike Ramsey.

Strategy: The probe found HomeLet had breached FSA guidelines because tenants were told contents insurance was mandatory when it was voluntary. Barbon has since spent £2.5m on amending policies and funds for potential redress payments for customers, leading to a £547,000 pre-tax loss in 2011, from a £7.8m profit in 2010.

25th BMS Associates

Management: Chief executive Carl Beardmore has led the insurance and reinsurance broker to a two-place jump, up from 27 last year. EBITDA climbed 9% to £7.8m during 2011 according to Companies House accounts, while profit on core business excluding bonuses was up 16%.

Strategy: The London-based broker plans to double in size through acquisitions in the next four years. In April 2011 it launched MGA Pioneer Underwriting, which wrote £15m in gross premiums in year one.

26th THB Group

Management: Led by chief executive Frank Murphy, the most recently published results claim THB made a pre-tax profit of £1.9m for the six months to 30 April 2011, up 100% on the same period a year earlier. Fees and commissions rose 6% to £26m.

Strategy: Private equity-backed US broker AmWINS acquired THB for £29.2m in November 2011. THB has since strengthened its facultative business by buying AFL Insurance Brokers’ UK commercial wholesale account at the start of the year, having snapped up its fleet account in 2011.

27th A-Plan

Management: A-Plan went through an ownership change in November 2011 after a management buy-out at its backer, Barclays Private Equity (now renamed Equistone Partners Europe). A-Plan chief executive Carl Shuker told Insurance Times his company would be unaffected.

Strategy: Announcing its results for the year to 28 February 2011, the broker said it was positioned for sustainable growth. A-Plan made an after-tax profit of £14.6m for the year, up 19% on the previous year, and revenues grew 9.3% to £50.5m.

28th Adrian Flux

Management: Adrian Flux Classic car and specialist motor insurance broker has moved up from 31 last year, having delivered revenue of £45.2m for the year to September 2011.

Strategy: The firm launched a high net worth division in 2008 and bought disabled specialist Chartwell Insurance in 2010. This year it launched a non-standard motor scheme.

29th RFIB Group

Management: Jonathan Turnbull’s rise to chief executive in October 2011 from chief financial officer was overshadowed in January when RFIB reported a 44% drop in profit after tax due to paying off £1.5m in bad debts. The profit, £1m for the year to 30 June 2011, was down from £1.8m the previous financial year.

Strategy: The reinsurance broker operates globally and expects to grow revenue, which was £42.7m in 2011, partly as a result of opening in Saudi Arabia. It closed its UK construction unit, which was deemed to be failing to perform in line with company strategy.

30th The A&A Group

Management: As chief executive, co-founder Tony Allen has overseen huge growth over the past two years at the non-standard motor insurer. Allen & Allen entered the Top 50 in 2011 at 40 and has leapt up 10 places. For the year to May 2012, revenue was up 82% to £42m and EBITDA up 61% to £10.9m.

Strategy: Allen & Allen has launched several online brands during the past decade.