Direct Group Strengthens Position in Brokered Secured Lending & Mortgage Arena
21/02/2008 08:41:38 by Marketing
Direct Group has strengthened its position in the secured lending and mortgage broking market with another major client win. With this new contract secured, valued at circa £75m GWP, it means that Direct Group are currently working with the three main players in the brokered secured loan and mortgage market.
As Managing General Agent, Direct Group will provide all administration services, including policy sale capture, policy fulfilment, through to premium distribution, claims handling and the creation of management information.
Derek Coles, Chief Executive Officer, commented “This is another major win for the company and really establishes Direct Group at the forefront of insurance services for the brokered secured lending and mortgage arena.”
For more information please contact marketing@directgroup.co.uk
Direct Group appoints Steve Broughton
02/10/2007 09:00:00 by Marketing
Direct Group are pleased to announce that Steve Broughton, former Managing Director at Royal & SunAlliance, has been appointed Chairman of Direct Group with effect from 1 October following completion of the MBO of the Company for £40M with the backing of LDC. Steve who is also on the Boards of insurer Fortis UK, software house SSP Holdings, motor claims management company Ai Claims Solutions and chairs the Sun Alliance Pension Fund brings a wealth of experience of the UK insurance market to the Board. Steve was formerly Chairman of Polaris UK, the industry owned Joint Venture also responsible for i-market, and of Swinton the leading intermediary.
Derek Coles Chief Executive Officer who led the recent management buyout at Direct Group commented “Steve joins us at an exciting time and his depth and breadth of experience across all aspects of the insurance market will add significant value to our business. Richard Watson will continue as Deputy Chairman as we strengthen our senior team.”
Steve said: “I am delighted to join Direct Group. It has a great opportunity to assist both insurers and intermediaries or affinities to reduce their costs and increase their marketing penetration in a variety of personal lines and product lines with its extremely impressive systems and management information capabilities. We will also be looking to expand further through a number of targeted acquisitions.”
Another New Deal for Direct Group
24/09/2007 09:00:00 by Marketing
Managing General Agent Direct Group has been appointed to supply all insurance products and administration services to South coast based mortgage & secured loan broker, The Mortgage Lender.
Chris Wood, Director of Sales & Marketing at Direct Group said “We are delighted to partner The Mortgage Lender. Their innovative approach complimented by our single, multi product/insurer web based administration model, will provide the ideal platform for driving growth, whilst delivering quality customer service in a demanding marketplace.”
The relationship will initially mean the provision of Creditor and Term Life insurances, with the addition of further value added products like buildings and contents to enhance The Mortgage Lender’s offer to their customers in the near future.
David Titmuss, Managing Director of The Mortgage Lender said, “To me success is about partnership – working with a company who can help us sell insurance well and compliantly and one who looks for new opportunities. Direct Group is that company and I am delighted to be working with them.”
Derek Coles, Direct Groups’ Chief Executive Officer commented “To be appointed by the team at The Mortgage Lender further strengthens our position in this space and is right on strategy for Direct Group as a solutions provider of insurance services to the mortgage and secured loan broker market.”
Direct Group Appointed Claims Administrator for New Product
20/09/2007 08:40:52 by Marketing
Direct Group announces that it has been appointed as Claims Administrator for a new Payment Protection Insurance product recently launched by a major financial institution. This new product offers the customer the flexibility and choice of mixing and matching cover to reach a level of protection that meets their needs.
Direct Group will provide a specialist claims administration service on behalf of the client which provides the customer with a high quality service in the unfortunate event of a claim.
Derek Coles, Chief Executive Officer, commented “As a Managing General Agent, Direct Group have the flexibility of providing clients with a ‘one-stop’ solution for all services or alternatively, as in this case, providing only a certain range of services to meet their needs. This allows the client to concentrate and focus on developing other areas of their business”.
LDC Backs Management of Direct Group in £40m Deal
06/08/2007 09:00:00 by Marketing
Derek Coles and Scott Hough have led the management team of Direct Group, a provider of business process outsourcing services to the insurance sector, in acquiring the business in a £40 million deal with the backing of mid-market private equity firm LDC and a debt package from Barclays.
Based at sites in Doncaster and Halifax, Direct Group provides a range of value-added services to insurers and corporate partners, including policy administration and fulfilment, commission management, premium collection, claims handling and performance reporting.
The business works across multiple insurance product sectors of property, motor, life and casualty, focussing predominantly on property and protection insurance schemes.
In recent years, Direct Group has successfully evolved from a niche third party administrator to a broader capability of a ‘managing general agent’, working as an intermediary for both insurers as well as corporate and affinity product distributors, who use Direct Group to provide innovative insurance products and services and source underwriting capacity.
The business has a very flexible technology platform and provides added-value services, including product design and development. This enables providers – such as lenders and underwriters - to work with Direct Group to develop tailored products for its distributor partners and use its technology to deliver new products and services to the marketplace quickly and effectively.
LDC has invested £21.3million for a significant minority shareholding, with the balance of equity held by first and second tier management teams. Debt funding was provided by Barclays Leveraged Finance team in Manchester.
The business has been acquired from a number of exiting shareholders, including two of the original founders, and Barclays Private Equity, which backed a management buyout in 2002.
As part of the deal, Ray Stenton, Investment Director at LDC, will join the board as non-executive director.
He said: “There are a number of strengths to Direct Group. We’ve been hugely impressed by its operational efficiency, which is driven by a highly automated IT infrastructure enabling the business to provide an unparalleled quality of service to its clients. It has also successfully evolved into an added-value partner providing a wide range of services across a diverse range of product areas, enjoying excellent relationships with insurers and distributors. Add to that an excellent management team led by Derek Coles and Scott Hough, we believe the business is well placed to capitalise fully on a dynamic marketplace that is seeing rising demand for partners like Direct Group.”
Derek Coles, who becomes Chief Executive of Direct Group, said: “This is a transformational deal for everyone at Direct Group. LDC is the ideal partner to help us deliver our future growth plans for the business. Very early on, Ray and his team demonstrated the same passion that has propelled us onwards over the last few years. We enjoy a high level of credibility in the insurance market – securing the backing of an investor like LDC can only enhance that.”
The deal was originated and led by Andy Westbrook and Claire Frangou at Deloitte.
Andy Westbrook said “This deal should provide the launch pad for a period of rapid growth for Direct Group and enables its highly incentivised and talented management team to capitalise on the core strengths of the business and benefit from the strong support of LDC. We wish the team every success for the future.”
Other advisers included Neal Shepherd of DLA (LDC), Peter Halpin of Eversheds (Vendors), Deloitte (Tax, Commercial Due Diligence and Debt Advisory), KPMG (Financial Due Diligence) and Ernst & Young (Exit review).
For more information please contact marketing@directgroup.co.uk
