SSP seals major broking contract

SSP has renewed and extended its relationship with Swinton to provide IT solutions for its nationwide branch network, call-centre and web-based operations, supporting nearly 3,000 users.

The six year agreement will see SSP continuing to provide development and support for Swinton’s personal lines broking systems, which will incorporate 74 of the branches acquired from Equity in January, taking the total branches supported by SSP systems to 570.

To ensure it stays at the forefront of the rapidly changing insurance market, Swinton will continue to upgrade and develop the capability of its bespoke personal lines broking systems using SSP components over the course of the next six years.

Adrian Hazeldine, Swinton’s IT & business change director said: “The service SSP provides and their ability to deliver is excellent, we place a high value on the reliability of our core systems. Over the last few years they have been a key partner within our overall IT strategy, supporting our successful development of a true multi-channel business - combining Swinton's branch based customer service excellence with the internet and aggregators as a key source of new business.

"This new deal continues a long standing and highly successful partnership which dates back to the mid 1980s and will see us retain a dedicated team within SSP to support and develop our branch systems. Given our scale and continuing growth - both organically and through acquisition, we need to ensure that we have the correct support arrangements in place to exploit growth opportunities without our IT solutions being a constraint."

Steve Bow, managing director of SSP’s broking division, added: “We are delighted to be extending our relationship with Swinton, our oldest and largest broking customer. Even in the current difficult market conditions Swinton continues to grow and prosper, illustrating the strength of the business and how it has responded to changes in the market.

"To support nearly 3,000 users across the country in its shops and call centres, as well as its successful websites, Swinton not only need an IT system that integrates across all channels, but also the support of an IT provider that has the resources to provide a dedicated development team and invest in new software. We look forward to working closely with Swinton to develop their IT systems even further, at a pace that suits them.”