| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Insurance |
| Founded | 1957 (1957) |
| Founder | Ken Scowcroft |
| Headquarters | Embankment West Tower, 101 Cathedral Approach,
Salford M3 7FB
,
United Kingdom
|
| Products | Home insurance, motor insurance, business insurance, caravan insurance, bike insurance, van insurance, taxi insurance |
| Owner | Ardonagh Group [1][2][3] |
Number of employees | More than 1,500 |
| Website | swinton |
Swinton Insurance is a UK insurance retailer that was established in 1957.[4][5] The company offers a range of insurance products from a panel of UK insurers covering car, bike, home, commercial, taxi and caravan insurance.[6]
Swinton was founded in 1957 by Ken Scowcroft (born 1928[7]) who began the car insurance brokerage business from the front room of his semi-detached house in Swinton, Greater Manchester.[8] in the first year, he sold around 100 policies to local people.[9]
The first branch was opened in 1964 in Salford, and the branch network originally expanded in the Manchester region before it expanded throughout the North West of England.[10] It was then merged with Denbury Insurance owned by Brian Blake, retaining the Swinton Insurance name. The company became the first insurance franchise and the first to introduce a computer quotations system, which is now common in major UK insurers.[11] In 1981, Ken Scowcroft's son, Brian Scowcroft, joined the business and worked in a number of different roles including Finance Director[12] before being appointed Joint Chief executive in 1985.[13]
In 1988 Swinton was sold to Sun Alliance[14] for £130m[15] and in 2001 it changed hands again when it was acquired by MMA Holdings UK Plc.,[16] which is, in turn, owned by Covéa SGAM (Société de Group d'Assurance Mutuelle).
In 2002, The Swinton Insurance Group acquired the specialist caravan and motorhome insurer, Safeguard,[17] and in 2004, it acquired Manchester based insurance group Deansgate Insurance.[18]
By 2008, Swinton had become the third largest insurance retailer in the UK, and the largest in Northern Ireland, managing over three million individual car, home and life insurance policies.[19] Their position in the Northern Ireland market was further bolstered with the acquisition of Open + Direct in 2009.[20]
The Swinton Insurance Group continued their UK-wide acquisition strategy in 2012 with the purchase of Greys Insurance in Burnley.[21] In 2013, they then purchased Stroud based insurers Alexander James Commercial[22] before agreeing a deal to buy the general insurance book of North Wales-based Anderson Insurance Services in 2014[23] and the Cleethorpes based C H Turner Insurance Consultants.[24]
Chief executive Christophe Bardet stepped down at the end of December 2014 and was succeeded by Gilles Normand, formerly the CEO of MMA Holdings UK Plc.[25] Gilles Normand stepped down as CEO in October 2018 and was replaced by Scott Kennedy as Managing Director.[26]
Ardonagh Group purchased Swinton in September 2018 for £165million.[27]
Swinton Insurance was the first insurance broker to advertise on UK television in the 1960s.[28] In the 1980s, Swinton ran television commercials featuring a 'Man with Big Glasses'.[29]
In the 1990s, Swinton Insurance ran a television commercial campaign featuring characters from the television programme Thunderbirds.[30][31]
Other commercials have featured Emmerdale actor John Middleton[32] and the animated television characters of The Flintstones.[33]
In 2009, Swinton was fined £770,000 by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for mis-selling payment protection insurance (PPI) policies.[34] In July 2013, Swinton was fined £7.4m by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in relation to sales of monthly insurance products sold by telephone between April 2010 and April 2012.[35]
Chief executive Christophe Bardet stated that Swinton had notified these problems to the Financial Services Authority in March 2012 and co-operated fully with the FCA. Swinton acknowledged its shortcomings in its sales practices during the specific period in question, and the company unreservedly apologised to customers.[36] After instigating a full review of the business after his appointment in December 2011, Bardet announced a comprehensive transformation of the business with a three-year, £75m investment programme.
In May 2014 Swinton Insurance was criticised by Welsh Language Commissioner[37] Meri Huws for prohibiting call centre staff from using Welsh when discussing details of financial products with Welsh speaking customers in Wales.[38]
