The Admiral Group PLC

The Admiral Group PLC

The Admiral Group PLC is a motor insurance company that is now part of the FTSE 100 index. The company has offices in Swansea, Wales and Seville in Spain and has its head office in Cardiff. The Admiral Group manages six different specialist brands:

• Admiral – this is the group’s first brand that started trading in 1993. this part of the group targets drivers who: traditionally pay higher premiums; under 35s; and drivers living in big cities.
• Bell Insurance – (Originally Bell Direct) started in 1997, this company targets drivers with no claims bonus and (at the time of its launch) those paying by credit card
• Confused.com – this is an online service that allows customers to input their details once and receive quotes from all the major car insurance websites. This brand does not actually sell insurance, rather it is the UK’s first insurance aggregator.
• Diamond – this company targets young women drivers and is therefore hassle-free and good value for money.
• Elephant.co.uk – this is the first wholly online car insurance service in the UK. As an online brand, the lower costs are passed on to customers in the form of lower premiums.
• Gladiator Commercial – launched in April 1998, this is the group’s first commercial vehicle insurance broker and acts on behalf of some of the largest commercial insurance brokers in the world.

The History of The Admiral Group

The Admiral Group has a history of amazing growth and innovation, launching in January 1993 with 57 employees and no customers, it now has over a million customers and 2000 members of staff. Here is the story of how a modest-sized managing agent became the huge group that it is today.

At the Beginning …

A modest sized managing agent at Lloyds wanted to generate more cash through insurance towards the end of 1990. Hayter Brockbank decided that the best way to do this was through selling private insurance direct to the customer. Henry Engelhardt (the current CEO of the Group) was the Sales and Marketing manager at Churchill Insurance and was chosen to head this operation and formulate a business plan. Admiral’s target audience were those drivers with higher premiums who traditionally found it difficult to get cheaper insurance, these included: those that lived in the city; young drivers; and those with performance cars.

The implementation of Admiral’s business plan began in April 1992 and was launched on 2nd January 1993 from its headquarters in Cardiff – selling its first policy at 9.10am over the phone that day.

Admiral Group goes from Strength to Strength

Admiral became the first UK direct insurer with online presence when it launched its website in October 1995. Within three years of launching, Admiral Group had reached a customer base of a quarter of a million policyholders with a turnover of £100 million and on June 1996, it opened its second office in Swansea.

June 1997 saw the Admiral Group launch two new brands – Bell Direct and Diamond and then it launched Gladiator Commercial in April 1998. The Group saw a turnover of £200 million in 1999, the same year in which it was named Welsh Company of the Year and saw a management buy-out of the Admiral Group from the Brockbank Group.

Elephant.co.uk was launched in 2000, becoming the Group’s fifth brand and the UK’s first online insurer offering a complete online solution to car insurance. It is now the UK’s third most visited car insurance website.

The Admiral Group’s turnover topped £300 million in 2001 with a customer base of half a million policyholders.

2002 was quite a busy year for the Group as it launched its sixth new brand – Confused.com; made it into the Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For (where it has remained for five consecutive years); 18% of the share of the company was purchased by Munich Re (the world’s largest reinsurer) and the CEO Henry Engelhardt was named Welsh Business Achiever of the Year.

2003 was another packed year of achievements with the Admiral Group making it into The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For; The Financial Times 50 Best Workplaces in the UK (where it has remained for three consecutive years); and 100 Best Workplaces in the EU (where it has remained for three consecutive years). The Group’s turnover topped £400 million and they had a customer base of three quarters of a million policy holders.

The Admiral Group received its one millionth claim in 2004 and was named Wales and Welsh Business of the Year as well as The Business of the Year. The Group also floats at the London Stock Exchange representing the biggest capital raising for a Welsh Company ever.

The Group won the Welsh Company of the Year 2005 and National Business Employer of the Year 2005.

The Admiral Group Today

Today the Group is still growing from strength to strength, but it still holds onto its core values. Their customer base are still those drivers who traditionally find it hard to get cheaper car insurance. The Admiral Group believe in keeping all its employees happy at the job that they’re in and have therefore set up a “Ministry of Fun” for those that currently work within the company and those who have left, organising fun events for them.

The Group also values their customers highly, and therefore implement many quality managers and officers throughout the group to ensure that all customers receive a high level of service.

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