Profiles
5. BENFIELD GROUP
55 BISHOPGATE
LONDON EC2N 3BD
TEL: 020 7578 7000
FAX: 020 7578 7001
E-MAIL: ENQUIRIES@BENFIELD GROUP.COM
WEBSITE: WWW.BENFIELDGROUP.COM + WWW.BENFIELDGROUP.COM
FEE AND COMMISSION INCOME (2004): £296.67m
PRE-TAX PROFIT: £90.43m
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 855
CHIEF OFFICER: GRAHAME CHILTON, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, BENFIELD GROUP
KEY MILESTONES
1973 Establishment of Benfield, Lovick & Rees (BLR) and established as a Lloyd's broker
1974 Greig Fester formed as a result of merger between Fester and Fothergill and Hartung (established 1874) and WT Greig (established 1921)
1988 A team including the late Matthew Harding, John Coleman and Grahame Chilton, lead a management buy-out of Benfield, Lovick & Rees to form the Benfield Group
1995 The Benfield Group acquires Lloyd's reinsurance broker Ellinger Heath Western, a specialist in North American and UK non-marine treaty reinsurance
1996 The Benfield Group merges with Greig Fester to form Benfield Greig Group
2001 Benfield Greig Group merges with EW Blanch (established in 1957) to form Benfield Group
2002 Creation of a single brand identity, represented by the name "Benfield".
Benfield lists on the London Stock Exchange
MAIN LINES OF BUSINESS
Reinsurance broking
CHIEF OFFICER BIOGRAPHY
Grahame Chilton joined Benfield in 1982 from CT Bowring. Over the years, he has traded in non-marine, marine and aviation reinsurance and direct retrocession business.
He has been a director since 1986 and was part of the management team that led the buy-out of Benfield in 1988.
Since his appointment as group chief executive in 1996, Benfield has expanded through a combination of organic growth and a number of strategic transactions, including the acquisitions of Greig Fester Group Ltd, Bates Turner Intermediaries LLC and EW Blanch Holdings, Inc.
During this time revenue increased from £50m to £300m.
