26. THB Group

Fee and commission income (2002): £22.4m

Pre-tax profit (2002): £2.3m

Address:
Murray House
Murray Road
Orpington
Kent BR5 3QY

Tel: 01689 827044

Fax: 01689 883511

Email: mail@thbgroup.com

Website: www.thbgroup.com

Year established: 1967

History: Shortly before its admission in October 2002 to the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange the holding company for the group changed its name from Thompson Heath & Bond (Holdings) Ltd to THB Group plc. Although other London Market brokers chose not to proceed with their plans for flotation last year, THB floated successfully raising £6m for acquisitions and continues to trade above its float price despite somewhat uncertain market conditions for the stock market generally.

From its formation in 1967, THB initially developed as a predominately UK brokerage, being admitted as a Lloyd's broker in 1977. The group now includes three Lloyd's brokers, following the acquisition in 2001 of TL Clowes and the recent acquisition of British Equestrian Insurance Brokers. The acquisition of TL Clowes in 2001 was a turning point for the group and the subsequent acquisition of what is now THB Egger Lawson Ltd (specialists in the provision of rally car insurance) reinforced the group's strong position in the area of motor sport where it places the majority of the insurances for the leading teams and drivers on a global basis.

Part of the strategy behind flotation was to enable the group to grow faster and with the recent acquisition of British Equestrian Insurance Brokers, THB has moved into a new area but, once again, one in which the group through BEIB is market leader.

Meanwhile, THB continues to grow rapidly in its more traditional wholesale areas such as North America and UK Motor Fleet aided in both cases by the recent transfer of teams from other Lloyd's brokers.

Major shareholders: 94 members of staff own 82% of the issued share capital and the majority of the balance is held by eight institutional investors including Jupiter Asset Management, Insight Investment and Exeter Asset Management.

Main lines of business: Provision of niche binding authority and open market facilities for large quality wholesale brokers both in the US and the UK together a large retail account specialising in a variety of niche areas such as motor sport and equine.

Number of UK branches: 5

Subsidiary companies:
Thompson Heath & Bond Ltd;

Marshall Ewart & Graham Ltd;

Thompson Heath & Bond (Northern) Ltd;

TL Clowes & Company Ltd;

TL Clowes Financial Services Ltd;

TL Clowes (Warwick) Ltd;

THB UK Ltd;

THB Egger Lawson Ltd;

BEIB Equestrian Holdings Ltd;

British Equestrian Insurance Brokers Ltd.

Number of UK employees (average for 2002): 327

Chief officer: Vic Thompson, chairman

Biography: THB founding chairman, Vic Thompson, left Bromley Grammar School at 16 and went straight into the City, joining Sun Insurance Office.

Following a short spell with a South London insurance broker he joined Lloyd's broker Steel Brothers & Higgins before moving to Hogg Robinson at the age of 21.

Two years later, in 1967, he established his own business and the original subsidiary company (Thompson Heath & Bond Ltd) became a Lloyd's broker in 1977. At that stage his involvement concentrated on the financial side and he remained the financial director until May 2002.

Over the past two years he has been actively engaged both in the recent acquisition activity of the THB Group and in the flotation of the group on the AIM market in October 2002.