Only six days after announcing its last acquisition, Aston Lark has revealed its purchase of Risk Alliance Limited and Risk Alliance International Limited, two brokers owned by Risk Alliance Group, a subsidiary of Accelerant Holdings Ltd.
West Yorkshire based Risk Alliance Limited operates as a specialist schemes broker, with specialisms in photographers, the leisure sector and non-standard household, while the Belfast-based Risk Alliance International Limited has a particular focus on the haulage and logistics industries. Both brokers were formerly part of the Risk Alliance Group, which includes NBS, and in 2019 was acquired by the insurance company Accelerant.
Commenting on the deal, Chris Lee-Smith, head of distribution at Accelerant, highlighted that, as a pure underwriting group, it was always the intention of the business to partner with a broker to find the next home for the broking businesses it acquired with the acquisition of Risk Alliance Group.
“Aston Lark were the natural partner for us as we wanted to find an excellent long-term home for the quality teams in Belfast and Bingley,” he said. “This deal leaves Accelerant with NBS, which is a pure underwriting entity.”
The acquisition will see 14 staff move across to Aston Lark in Bingley and nine members of staff in Belfast and will bring a combined GWP of £12 million across the two businesses. Discussing the deal, Peter Blanc, Group CEO of Aston Lark, said the broker is very excited to have made these two additions to the Aston Lark family.
“Geographically, both acquisitions are an excellent fit for Aston Lark giving us our first presence in Northern Ireland and our first presence in Yorkshire,” he said. “We look forward to working with the management teams, comprising Adrian Wilson and Gareth Morgan in Belfast and Daphne Pickles, Daniel Hobson and Abbie Mason in Bingley, to help them to grow in their various areas of specialism.”
