Fee and commission income (2003): £3104m.
Pre-tax profit (2003): £37.7m
Address: Friary Court,
Crutched Friars
London E6 2DG
Tel: 020 7560 3000
Fax: 020 7560 3540
Email: information@heathlambert.com
Website: www.heathlambert.com
Year established: December 1999
History: Heath Lambert Group was formed in 1999 by the merger of Lambert Fenchurch and The Heath Group. Both businesses had long histories as insurance brokers, established in 1840 and 1887 respectively, with more than a century of experience as City of London brokers. The merger allowed the t brokers to consolidate their strengths and geographic coverage.
A financial restructure in late 2003 leaves Heath Lambert a strong and financially sound independent broker with a simplified and refocused business.
Heath Lambert group is now well positioned as Europe's leading insurance and reinsurance broker, providing retail, wholesale and reinsurance broking, as well as risk management and consultancy services.
Major shareholders: Intermediate Capital group, management and staff (33%).
Main lines of business: The group's operations are organised into three business units. Business Solutions focuses on the group's larger international and UK clients. These clients commonly have complex risk profiles that require tailored programme design and insurance placement. Business Services covers higher-volume, lower-value risks and those where there is a lesser need for a customised marketing approach. Overseas, the group maintains a network of subsidiary companies, associated companies and joint ventures, particularly in Europe.
The group has also created a strong retail broking network, HLA Global, a joint venture operation with established retail broking partners in other countries.
Number of UK branches: 21
Subsidiary companies: Heath Lambert Group Ltd (holding company), Heath Group Ltd (holding company), Heath Lambert Ltd (insurance broker), Heath Lambert Management Ltd (management services), Heath Lambert Overseas Ltd (holding company), Heath Lambert Consulting Ltd (financial services).
Number of UK employees (average for 2003): 2,327
Chief officer: Ian Martin, executive chairman
Biography: Ian Martin is one of the UK's most experienced industrialists and chairman of SSL International, a major healthcare company with a turnover of £600m and 7,000 employees worldwide.
From 1995 to 2001 he was chairman of Unigate, a food and distribution company with over 27,000 employees and an annual turnover of £2.1bn. In 1994 he founded the Glenisla Group Ltd, a European arm of the US venture capital investment house Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, and was chairman and chief executive until leaving the firm in 1997. Before establishing Glenisla, Martin was deputy chairman of one of Britain's largest companies, Grand Metropolitan (now part of Diageo), where he was previously managing director and chief operating officer. From 1986 to 1988 Martin was also chairman of Inter-Continental Hotels Corporation, where he made dramatic improvements in profitability and sold the hotel group to Seibu Saison of Japan for the record price of £1.2bn.
In 1988/89 he led the largest acquisition in Grand Metropolitan's history - that of the US Pillsbury Company, including Burger King. He was chairman and chief executive of the Pillsbury Company and chairman of Burger King worldwide from 1989 to 1992. He was also a non-executive director of the St Paul Companies Inc of St Paul, Minnesota, a major US property-casualty underwriter from 1990 to 1996.
