Ulster-based Open + Direct, part of the Viridian Group, has acquired specialist vehicle brokers, Footman James & Company for an undisclosed sum.

Footman James has a net value asset of £250,000 and has around 80,000 customers and 100 staff.

Total premiums are more than £20m a year. The deal is the second insurance acquisition in a month for Open + Direct.

Last month it bought Ulster-based motorcycle insurance specialists, SG Cathcart. In January, Open + Direct bought Spratt Insurance Services which has offices in four towns across Northern Ireland.

Paul Elliott, managing director of Open + Direct said: “This acquisition is a further step in our strategy of expansion into the personal lines and commercial insurance business through organic growth and the acquisition of leading intermediaries in each of the major insurance sectors.”


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