Clear Group-owned Brokerbility acquires Gauntlet AR Network and Gauntlet Retail Brokers

Clear Group-owned Brokerbility has acquired the Gauntlet Appointed Representative (AR) Network and Gauntlet Retail Brokers, Insurance Times can reveal.

Brokerbility is a broker network that supports its member firms through access to proprietary insurance products, enhanced placement solutions, advanced data analytics and a training academy.

Meanwhile, Gauntlet has grown into a specialist commercial insurance broker and national broker network since being founded in 1994 by Roger Gaunt.

Gauntlet’s AR Network assumes full regulatory responsibility on behalf of its AR members. It also offers a comprehensive broking platform, market access, online quote-and-buy functionality and eTrade propositions that support their growth ambitions.

Brokerbility said adding the Gauntlet AR Network ”creates a powerful new partner for independent insurance brokers at every stage of their journey”, from newly launching startups, to mature independent firms seeking scale and resilience.

John Dunn, managing director at Brokerbility, told Insurance Times: ”Gauntlet joining our group means that we’re just much better positioned to have a means by which people can start a new insurance broking business.

”The other angle I see with Gauntlet is that people at the other end of their career and perhaps running a regulated business at the moment and are keen to simplify their operating framework, there is that opportunity for them to, in effect, stop becoming a regulated entity in their own right and become an AR of Gauntlet and we see quite a lot of opportunity in that space.”

Gaunt role

This comes after Gauntlet joined the Brokerbility network in 2023 as a member.

The deal will see Gaunt remain with the combined business and play a role in the development of Brokerbility’s AR proposition, with a particular focus on expanding membership across its various offerings and supporting entrepreneurial brokers.

Gaunt said: ”Gauntlet has always been about supporting entrepreneurial brokers with the right framework, flexibility and support to succeed.

“Becoming fully part of Brokerbility allows us to accelerate that vision as part of a wider, values led community. I’m excited to continue growing the AR network and to help shape a proposition that truly reflects what brokers want and need.”

Dunn added: ”It’s that closer collaboration between Gauntlet and the Brokerbility community.

”We’ll be looking for opportunities to really grow that AR proposition using the collective breadth and reach of Brokerbility and Gauntlet.

“But we’re also looking for what synergies and opportunities are there between the two businesses to grow different bits of the proposition so that we can just add as many benefits as possible within our existing membership base and also into the Gauntlet community as well.”