Folgate Partnership has bought two brokers including DPR Holdings, one of the biggest independents in the home counties.

DPR, based in Milton Keynes, Bucks, controls around £17m of premiums.

The DPR brand will be kept and its 43 staff will continue to work under chairman Budge Rogers and managing director Ray Potter.

The deal boosts Folgate's presence in the region following its purchase earlier this month of Seymour Pope in Harpenden, Herts and its ownership of Bervale Mead in Leighton Buzzard, Beds.

Folgate also bought RBR Insurance Brokers in Ilkley, Yorkshire, which controls at least £9m of premiums of mainly commercial business.

RBR was in acquisition talks with local broker Hainsworth Watts; as part of its deal Folgate will nail the deal, moving Hainsworth Watts into RBR's offices.

The combined operation will become the largest hub in Folgate's network with premiums of about £40m.

Staff will be retained and RBR managing director Mark Minton will also become boss of Smithson Mason Group, bought by Folgate in April last year.

Executive chairman Peter Cullum said the deals got Folgate off to a flying start for the year and kept its growth plans on track.

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