The Davis Group

Company name: The Davis Group plc

Address: King's Court, Newmarket, Suffolk CB8 7SG

Tel: 01638 608060

Fax: 01638 616916

Email:
insurance@thedavisgroup.co.uk

Website:
www.thedavisgroup.co.uk

Lines of business: Freight transport and marine account for about 80% of business General commercial accounts for the remaining 20%

Financial statistics:Premium income for the year ended 31 October 2002: £27.4m

Profit before tax in the same period: £1.275m

Key contacts: For brokers: Tony Lees, wholesale director

For insurers: Leigh Smart, chairman and chief executive

General inquiries: Kevin Hancock, marketing director

Where can you find The Davis Group?
The Davis Group has 60 staff, with 50 based in its new headquarters building in Newmarket, Suffolk. Seven are based in Dartford, Kent, in Davis Specialist Risks, which handles marine and transit business. Three are based in Hartlebury, West Midlands, handling general commercial business.

Who does business with The Davis Group?
With its gross premium up by 44% for the year ended 31 October to £27.4m from £19.04m last year. The group is growing fast. Much of the growth is on the wholesale side.

Wholesale business to other brokers accounted for about 35% of turnover by the end of 2002 and chief executive Leigh Smart hopes wholesale will generate half the group's business, possibly by the end of 2003. He's aiming for another year of 40% growth overall.

Marketing director Kevin Hancock said: "The broker market is where it is going. We can offer better service than insurers and we don't have all the reporting structures that insurers cripple themselves with."

With up to 4,000 haulage clients and important marine and other freight accounts, a major part of the group's business is concerned with arranging cover for goods in transit of one form or another.

The Davis Group claims to lead the market in hauliers' liability, which is placed at Lloyd's with Faraday. An important coach and taxi liability account, placed in the composite market, is expected to grow by 50% in 2003.

By the end of 2003, Lloyd's is expected to be the broker's largest underwriting source with Norwich Union and AXA as its next biggest insurers.

Elsewhere on the horizon are new products, such as motor cover, and investigations into new distribution channels.

"The big evolution for us is going to be electronic web trading," Hancock said.

"The difficulty we've got is taking insurers along with us as the technology makes everything as seamless as possible.

"We know the market and if we can get them to change their focus slightly we could get them to act as a banker for us while we find them business at arm's length."

History
Founded in the early 1970s, the company was originally known as Roberts & Davis. For its relaunch under The Davis Group name, the entire staff was taken off to a French chateau to celebrate.

Did you know?
The board dreamed up a new logo, based on an ancient Egyptian symbol signifying wisdom, health and prosperity, during a brainstorming session in Cairo in April 2000.