12. Hill House Hammond

12. Hill House Hammond
Fee and commission income (2000): £82m
Pre-tax profit (2000): £9.5m

Address: Hill House
Lewins Mead
Bristol
BS1 2LL
Tel: 0117 929 2906
Fax: 0117 925 2337

Email: info@hhh.co.uk

Website: hhh.co.uk ; www.hhhbusiness.co.uk

History: Based in Bristol, the company was founded in 1959 under the name of Hill House. Initial branches included Havant, Nottingham, London, Leeds and, after the opening of the Severn Bridge, Wales.

In 1983, Hill House was bought by Hill Samuel through its Lowndes Lambert subsidiary which had previously sold personal lines insurance under the L Hammond name. This resulted in the merger of names to form Hill House Hammond (HHH). By 1991, HHH had a network of 133 branches when it was purchased by Norwich Union.

The company has an active acquisition programme, which sees a regular number of acquisitions of single-site businesses most months. Its flexible attitude to acquisitions, which include both personal lines and commercial businesses, strengthens its network of local branches and ensures customer continuity.

The development of commercial insurance is a key strategy and the company recently re-launched the division as Hill House Hammond Business, with the intention of growing the operation significantly over the next few years.

Hill House Hammond has a keen involvement in sporting sponsorship and is proud to be current title sponsor of the Elf/HHH Super One British Karting Championships and the 2002 HHH Zone 6 City Cricket challenge.

The HHH interactive website for personal lines commenced trading in October 2001. It currently offers motor and home insurance online, with plans to introduce other products as the service develops. A website for business insurance was launched in March 2001, offering information and quotations by email.

Today, HHH has over 240 branches and its 2,000 plus staff service the needs of 1.2 million customers. The main strength of the company is its extensive branch network offering a local, face-to-face professional service, alongside seven-days-a-week national telephone call centres and internet access, for both the individual and businesses.

Chief officer: Eric Galbraith

Biography: Galbraith was appointed managing director of Hill House Hammond in November 2000. He began his career in 1965, working for Bowring and then the Marsh Organisation in Glasgow, Edinburgh and London. In 1992, he returned to Scotland with Marsh and in 1994 was headhunted to join the Royal Bank of Scotland. There, he was managing director of RBIS Ltd and RBIS (IFA) Ltd. Over the six years with the Royal Bank, the insurance broking arm grew from a profit of just over £3m to approx £30m.

Major shareholders: Aviva

Main lines of business: Personal lines, with a growing presence in the commercial market.

Special schemes: HHH offers exclusive home and motor products through a range of insurers. It has specialist centres for vehicles (American, kit and classic cars), caravans and trailer tents, high net worth motor and home and let properties. HHH also offer specially negotiated products for travel and pets. The company has an increasing number of staff schemes and affinity group relationships, including the Fire and Rescue Services and Neighbourhood Watch.

Number of UK branches: 240 personal lines branches, two call centres; seven specialist commercial centres.

Number of employees (average for 2001): 2,200

Technology: Launching an interactive website for personal lines business and an advice and quotation website for business insurance. A surveyjudged the former fourth best of all surveyed.

HHH see this as a natural extension to complement the existing operation, enabling it to offer customers a professional service whether it be face-to-face, over the telephone or via the internet.