24. Boncaster

24. Boncaster
Fee and comm income (2001): £25.9m

Pre-tax profit (2001): £3.6m

Address: Library House
New Road
Brentwood
Essex
CM14 4GD
Tel: 01277 200 100
Fax: 01277 206 066

Email: nick.potts@cox.co.uk

Website: www.cox.co.uk & www.insure.co.uk

History: Brentwood-based Boncaster was established in 1931, building the business through the acquisition of broker accounts and operating numerous schemes for many household name affinity partners.

In more recent years, Boncaster became part of the retail division of Cox Insurance Holdings and has grown by launching its own direct product, insure.co.uk, and establishing relationships with other e-commerce partners, including Egg Insure. It now employs 423 staff across four sites, Brentwood, Bradford, Solihull and Southampton.

Boncaster offers its customers and clients the flexibility of a panel of insurers including Norwich Union, Zurich, Cornhill, Royal & SunAlliance and Equity Red Star to ensure it remains competitive across the motor and home markets. The 2000 fee and commision income was £21.8m and the pre-tax profit was £2.6m.

Chief officer: Nick Potts, managing director

Biography: Nick Potts originally trained with Midland Bank, becoming manager of UK marketing in 1989 and managing the office of the chief executive for UK banking and group operations.

In 1995, Potts joined UK broking chain Colonnade as operations director, managing a network of 110 branches and the company's telebroking centres in Yorkshire and Northern Ireland.

In 1998, he joined Privilege Insurance as head of commercial operations and was instrumental in the launch of the highly successful motor insurance scheme for Barclays Bank and in setting up Privilege's commercial insurance division for small businesses.

He joined Cox Insurance Retail Division in 1999 as sales and marketing director and was appointed managing director of Boncaster, part of Cox Insurance Retail Division, in January 2001, while still retaining his other Cox responsibilities.

Major shareholders: Cox Insurance Holdings

Main lines of business: Personal lines motor, home, motorcycle, pet and travel insurance plus vehicle breakdown cover.

Special schemes: Numerous affinity schemes including Volkswagen Insurance, Audi Insurance, Peugeot Insurance Services, Age Concern Motor Insurance, Egg Insure, Insurancewide.com and the Royal British Legion.

Number of UK branches: four call centres

Number of employees (2001): 423

Technology: Launch of interactive website powering insure.co.uk, Egg Insure and others. These have resulted in significant increases in inquiries.

25. Oriel Group
Fee and commission income (2000): £25.6m

Pre-tax profit (2001): £0.9m

Address: Stuart House
Queens Gate
Britannia Road
Waltham Cross
Hertfordshire
EN8 7TF

Tel: 01992 652 277

Fax: 01992 761 425

Main lines of business: Provision of motor warranties and insurance broking to the aviation industry.