Durham-headquartered Castle Insurance Services (North East) Ltd is now part of Global Risk Partners (GRP) and will become the base of the insurance intermediary group in the North East.
The acquisition, GRP’s first in this part of the country, has received regulatory approval. The purchase price for 100% of Castle’s share capital was not disclosed, though.
Lifting the lid on the swoop, GRP mergers and acquisitions head Stephen Ross said: “We have been searching for a well-established, dynamic brokerage in the North East for some time, and we are really pleased to acquire Castle, a well-regarded, family-owned brokerage which has grown fast since it was established in 1990.
“We found with previous regional acquisitions that, once we have established a footprint in a particular geography, we are able to accelerate our pipeline of deal opportunities thanks to the local knowledge and contacts generated by the acquired business. We are confident of achieving a similar trajectory with the Castle team.”
The plan is to grow GRP’s UK retail business footprint further, through acquisition and organic growth, from the new base.
Led by brothers and joint managing directors Paul and Phil Younger, Castle writes a wide range of commercial insurances and some personal lines business from its offices in Durham and Newton Aycliffe. The current premises, as well as Castle’s branding and existing staff, will be retained.
“This is a perfect moment for us to join the GRP family of businesses,” commented Paul Younger, who founded Castle. “We have seen how other GRP acquisitions have grown rapidly as a result of the added firepower provided by the parent, and we want to achieve the same.
“There is a wealth of opportunity in the North East for entrepreneurial brokerages such as ours, and we look forward to being a key part of GRP’s ambitious plans for this part of the world.”
