INSURANCE TIMES 21st May 2018

Niche broker bought for undisclosed sum

Fresh Insurance Services Group has been acquired by NSM Insurance Group’s UK arm, Vantage Holdings for an undisclosed sum.

West Midlands-based broker Fresh specialises in non-standard personal lines products, motor trade, van, and travel insurance.

Fresh is the the second acquisition made by Vantage since it was acquired by NSM in December 2016 and will form an integral piece of their growth strategy of expanding in the UK insurance market, NSM said.

NSM chief executive Geof McKernan said, “We are excited to continue our growth and expansion in the UK with Fresh Insurance.

“They have a strong track record of providing excellent service and expertise to the niche-specific industries they serve, which makes them a perfect fit for our portfolio of dynamic, specialized businesses. We welcome the Fresh team to our UK operation.”

“This acquisition is another important step in our ambition to become one of the UK’s leading specialist insurance agencies,” John Collyear, chief executive of Vantage said.

“A key aspect of this growth strategy is to expand our specialist insurance operations, and we were particularly attracted to Fresh because of the nature of their business and their distribution model.

“They, like us, are highly niche, and their expertise in non-standard personal lines products, such as young drivers and hard to insure household, will complement our growing portfolio of specialist insurance business.”

Fresh chief executive Lisa Powis said, “We share the same customer-centric values as the Vantage Group and a common goal to be the number one niche insurance broker in the UK.

“The last 16 years have been an incredible journey working with the brilliant team at Fresh and working with some great people across the industry.”

Fresh was advised in the transaction by IMAS Corporate Finance.

“We were invited to advise Lisa and the team in this transaction. It’s been a 16-year journey to build up this first class business,” said IMAS founding partner Olly Laughton-Scott.