Cox Insurance retail division has bolstered its intermediary market presence with the acquisition of West Midlands-based Argent Insurance Group and the wholesale broker operation Brokersure.
Cox, which bought Holman Marketing last year, has paid £1.4 million in total for the purchases and said it intends to continue on the broker acquisition trail throughout the year.
Cox retail chief executive Neil Utley said: "We're keen to keep expanding our branch network. Not by acquiring aggressively to create a new Swinton, but by picking up brokers as they come our way. It could be five a year, or 50." The group has been involved in broking through Boncaster since 1931.
Argent and Brokersure were owned jointly by Michael Whitfield and Richard Dean, who were the majority shareholders, and by several other managers. Whitfield and Dean will remain as directors of Argent. Dean - who has already sold one business to Utley when he headed Colonnade - will also continue in his role as agency manager of both Argent and Brokersure, with responsibility for building and enhancing insurer relations. Paul Dodds has been confirmed as managing director of the Argent retail division.
Staffordshire-based Brokersure has been using Holman's facilities to provide private motor insurance from a panel of 15 insurers to 550 brokers. It will now work with Holman to launch what Cox calls "an enhanced range of broker friendly
products".
Utley added: "Argent and Brokersure gave us the opportunity to acquire a very sound business. Acquiring Argent demonstrates Cox's commitment to the intermediary market. And the addition of Brokersure represents a logical and significant expansion for Holman's."
