GRP issues trading update

Global Risk Partners (GRP) has thrown its hat into the ring of insurance businesses releasing their trading results as 30 September 2021.

The insurance intermediary group noted that in the first nine months of the year, GRP continued to see significant growth, with the run rate EBITDA of its operating entities climbing by 30% to £80 million. Meanwhile, the group reported that its run rate income has increased by £34 million to £197 million, up from £163 million in the same period for 2020.

Read more: GRP acquires Willis Towers Watson’s NI insurance broking business

The GWP influenced or controlled by the firm has doubled to £1.8 billion, up from £900 million in 2020. This follows several major acquisitions including that of Hedron Network (from Marsh UK) and the Northern Ireland book from Willis Towers Watson. These deals, in addition to the many others made by the group, reflect the fast pace of growth GRP has enjoyed since the acquisition of a majority stake in the business by Searchlight Capital Partners in June 2020.

Commenting on the results Mike Bruce (pictured), GRP group CEO said: “This is a strong performance by GRP during challenging times for the industry. 2021 has been a sea change for GRP in terms of scale as we have doubled the amount of GWP we control and our EBITDA in 2021 jumped by 30%, building on a 20% increase between 2019 and 2020.”

Bruce added that GRP has met every one of the goals it had set after the Searchlight acquisition, namely:

• Supporting its hub brokers in making 13 acquisitions and completing four group acquisitions.
• A 5% improvement in its NPS to +60, 25% higher than comparable insurance brands, via its NPS annual survey of 80,000 clients.
• Supporting and improving its employees’ wellbeing during the pandemic.

Bruce added that, on the acquisition side, during this period GRP also achieved its aims of entering the Irish market (via its Crotty acquisition), buying a digital broker (Insync), entering the health insurance sector (Premier Choice Healthcare) and buying a network (Hedron). 

“We have created a business of scale, with a focus on high-quality client outcomes and profitable results for insurers and for our investors,” he said. “[Looking ahead], we are very well positioned to capitalise as the economy emerges from the pandemic and our pipeline of acquisitions is as strong as ever, underlining the enduring value of our business model.”

“This is an excellent performance across all aspects of our business during unprecedented trading conditions. I want to thank both management and our 2000  employees for their resilience and focus during the pandemic.”