Fee and commission income (2003): £355m.
Pre-tax profit (2003): £109,000
Address: 2 Forrest Gate
Tannochside Business Park
Uddingston
Glasgow
G71 5PG
Tel: 01698 804014
Fax: 01698 804099
Email: info@kfis.co.uk
History: Kwik-Fit Insurance (KFI) was established in 1995 and is based in Uddingston, just outside Glasgow. The 1,000-strong call centre, which is part of the Kwik-Fit group, currently handles more than 15,000 calls every day and contacts more than one million Kwik-Fit customers every year.
In recent years, the company has expanded from its core motor product to include household and pet insurance in its portfolio as well as other products such as breakdown cover.
In 2003 KFI was joint winner of the Insurance Times Large Broker of the Year award for its strategies developed to combat increasing competition from direct writers, which included targeted use of the Kwik-Fit customer database, increasing the insurer panel and diversifying into other product areas.
The company was included in The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2003 and 2004 and was voted Best for Work and Family for its commitment to creating an optimum work/life balance for its employees. KFI has also won a number of accolades for its training and staff development programmes.
In order to keep pace with its rapid growth in customers and employees, the company is in the process of implementing a new CRM system.
Chief officer: Martin Oliver, managing director
Biography: Martin Oliver attended school in Glasgow and went on to do an accounting degree at the University of Glasgow.
After he graduated in 1984 he joined Ernst & Young chartered accountants in Glasgow. He went on to become an audit manager at Ernst and Young in Auckland, New Zealand.
Oliver joined Britannia Life Financial Services in 1991 as a systems accountant. He then progressed to become an accounting operations manager at Britannia Life.
Oliver joined Kwik-Fit Insurance Services in 1995, as finance director.
He progressed to commercial director in 1999, and to managing director in 2002. Since he took up his current post, turnover has grown by 35%.
Major shareholders: CVC Capital Partners
Number of UK branches: 1
Number of employees (2003): 1,000.
