13. Hill House Hammond

Fee and Commission income (1999): £75m
Pre-tax profit (1999): £10.7m

Address:
Hill House
Lewins Mead
Bristol
BS1 2LL
Tel: 0117 929 2906
Fax: 0117 925 2337
Email: info@hhh.co.uk
Website: 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, with 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 small 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 Total/HHH Super One British Karting Championships and the 2001 City Challenge Zone 6 cricketing tournament.

The Hill House Hammond interactive website for personal lines commenced trading in October 2001. It currently offers motor 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 more than 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-day-a-week national telephone call centres and internet access, for both individuals and businesses.

Chief officer: Eric Galbraith
Biography: Eric 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, Galbraith returned to Scotland with Marsh and, in 1994, was head-hunted to join the Royal Bank of Scotland. There, he was managing director of RBIS and RBIS (IFA). Over the six years with the Royal Bank, the insurance broking arm grew from a profit of just over £3m to approximately £30m.

Major shareholders: CGNU
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 and has specialist centres for vehicles (American, kit cars etc), trailer tents and touring caravans, and marine. It has an increasing number of staff schemes and affinity group relationships, including Neighbourhood Watch and the fire and rescue services. The company also offer exclusively negotiated products for travel and pets.

Number of UK branches: 240 personal lines branches, 4 specialist commercial centres (plus 6 satelite offices), 2 personal lines call centres, 1 commercial call centre, 1 marine centre and 2 claims centres.
Number of employees (average for 2000): 2,200

Greatest technological advance: Launching an interactive website for personal lines business and an advice and quotation website for business insurance. A survey by CI research judged the former fourth best of all surveyed. HHH see this as a natural extension to complement the existing operation, enabling us to offer customers a professional service whether it be face-to-face, over the telephone or via the internet.