Opus wins Millennium Centre bid

Opus has won the race to place cover for the Wales Millennium Centre.

The move is part of a drive by Opus to further strengthen its position in the leisure market.

Opus chief executive Ian Brice said that leisure would be one of the key markets for Opus going forward, and it was seeking to make acquisitions in that area. Brice said that Opus was also looking at establishing itself as a wholesale broker in the leisure sector, providing smaller brokers with access to the Lloyd's market. "We believe it is a very specialist market and because of our activities we have access," Brice said.

Earlier this year, Opus, which is also the broker for the Welsh Rugby Union, Sadler's Wells and the Millennium Stadium, acquired a team of leisure brokers from Windsor to create the Opus Leisure division.

Brice said that the company will look to complementary acquisitions as well as organic growth to increase its revenue from £18m to more than £25m. Apart from the leisure sector, Brice said that Opus was also looking for acquisitions in employee benefits to complement its existing presence in that area. He said that northern England was a key area of focus for acquisitions, with one likely to be completed by the end of 2003.