Towergate hits 2012 acquisition trail with two broker buys

Towergate has opened its acquisitions’ account for 2012 by buying Centenary Insurance and William Rogers Insurance Brokers.

The consolidator had previously been buying brokers through CCV, and will continue to use CCV, however these two buys differ in that they will fall under the command of Towergate Retail chief executive Michael Rea.

Centenary Insurance, based in Bristol, boasts a strong book of haulage business with clients predominantly based in the South West of England. 

Centenary’s clients include the Freight Transport Association and Scania. The business also provides in-cabin cameras to haulage firms to record traffic incidents and to help combat cash for crash scams.

The deal will compliment the consolidator’s 2011 push into pay-as-you-drive insurance policy for haulers. 

Centenary director Mark Boyd, now becomes sales director for the South, reporting to Larry Smith, managing director of Towergate’s commercial motor division.

Penzance-based William Rogers Insurance Brokers was founded 25 years ago and offers both commercial and personal lines insurance broking services.

William Rogers director Andrew Morehen will remain at the helm of the business, which will become a new site for the South West region of Towergate, under the local leadership of Nick Hatch.

This purchase widens the consolidator’s retail footprint in the South West of England, and Cornwall in particular.

Rea said: “We are currently in discussions with a wide range of regional brokers, who are thinking of selling their businesses. Our pipeline of deals is strong at the moment, and I expect to complete a number of deals in the first half of the year.”