It has been a busy week on the acquisition front and Aston Lark is adding to the momentum with a double swoop for two health insurance brokers – Right to Health Ltd and The Health Insurance Specialists (HIS). Both deals, which will bolster the broker’s employee benefits and individual health insurance offering, are expected to complete in early March.
Right to Health, which was founded by Gary Marney and Stephen Carroll in 2001, is an independent individual health insurance specialist while HIS, which was founded by Robin Dowling, Gary Marney and Stephen Carroll, serves the needs of both businesses and individuals.
The deals continue Aston’s Lark evolution into the health insurance broking market following its acquisition of Private Healthcare Managers Ltd in August 2020 and its hiring of Warren Dickson, former CEO of Chase Templeton as UK retail MD in September 2020.
Commenting on the deals, group CEO of Aston Lark, Peter Blanc noted that private medical insurance has never been more in demand and that the two brokers offer high-quality advice and service, and are the perfect fit for Aston’s Lark ethos of client care. The purchase of these healthcare businesses brings over 30,000 new policymakers into the group, he said, and over £50 million of annual premium income.
“[This makes] Aston Lark one of the largest private medical insurance brokers in the country,” he said. “We will be continuing to acquire more businesses in the healthcare space over the coming years and would love to hear from other PMI advisors considering their next steps.”
Meanwhile, Gary Marney, partner at HIS and Right to Health founder, and Dowling, partner at HIS both highlighted that over the last 11 years, the businesses has seen significant growth and that the world of private healthcare is more exciting than ever. They said they are looking forward to the future with Aston Lark.
“This development is great news for our clients,” Marney and Dowling said. “It strengthens our proposition and breadth of cover in the market and opens up access to a range of other insurance products. The Aston Lark Group shares our ethos of care and excellence in customer service, which we think makes it a great new home for our team.”
