Broking group increases customer base to 4.6 million

Peter Winslow

BGL Group increased its pre-tax profits by 22% year-on-year during the financial year from July 2011 to June 2012, driven by growth across all lines.

The broking group posted profits of £88m for the period compared to £72m in 2010/11.

BGL also increased its customer base to 4.6m in 2011/12 from 3.9m in 2010/11.

BGL Group chief executive Peter Winslow said: “2011/12 was a strong year for our group and saw us deliver continued profit and customer growth. It also saw some investments come to fruition to help us drive future success, and the launch of new businesses. We also achieved several important milestones around employee engagement and customer satisfaction.”

The group was boosted by the success of its comparethemarket.com ‘meerkat’ campaign that produced significant customer and revenue growth.

Meanwhile, the performance of its claims management arm, ACM, and the launch of ‘self-service’ functionality for customers across all brands also contributed to its growth.

The sale of South African-based Fusion Outsourcing Services to WNS was another contributing factor.

Looking forward, BGL will be aiming to utilise the strengths of its newly launched multi-million pound ‘data hub’, which checks various data sources to protect its panel of insurers against fraud, and Verzekeringssite.nl, its second European price comparison site acquisition, as well as its new life insurance brand, Beagle Street.