Revenues, customers and employees double in three years as company embarks on active investment and expansion programme
21st October 2019
Kingsbridge Group (“Kingsbridge”), the UK’s leading provider of specialist insurance services to skilled contractors, freelancers and the recruitment and utilities industries, is delighted to announce revenues of £14.6m for the year ended 31st January 2019. This represents overall organic revenue growth of 20% over the previous year, with Kingsbridge’s Contractor Insurance division growing by 25% over the same period. Total GWP increased to £30.4m, a 13% increase.
These results illustrate the success of Kingsbridge’s strategy to position itself to benefit from the long-term shift in the UK economy away from permanent roles towards a more flexible workforce, allowing companies of all sizes to access highly skilled professionals as and when they need them. The number of self-employed people in the UK now numbers some 5 million people, a 50% increase since 2002 [1], with freelancers estimated to contribute £145bn to the UK economy every year [2].
Kingsbridge’s results also reflect the accelerating benefits of the significant investment that it has made in its offering, technology platform and marketing and analytics capabilities. The business has doubled its revenues and customers over the past three years and has recently sold its first policy in Ireland.
Having made two acquisitions in the last 12 months, Kingsbridge has now built a unique “waterfront” of brands and distribution platforms with which to address the insurance and other needs of the rapidly growing UK contingent workforce and expand internationally:
- Kingsbridge Contractor Insurance (kingsbridge.co.uk), services 50,000 contractors, working alongside around 500 partners
- Larsen Howie (larsenhowie.co.uk), acquired in August 2018, provides direct / online distribution to contractors and freelancers and is one of the country’s leading IR35 consultancies
- Dinghy (getdinghy.com), acquired in January 2019, is a pioneering app-based provider of flexible insurance cover to freelancers and the self-employed, recently identified as the UK’s most disruptive insurance company [3], charging for business insurance cover by the second
- Kingsbridge Insurance Brokers (kibl.co.uk) is one of the leading brokers to the growing recruitment industry which is also benefitting from these broader workforce trends
Founded in 2001, Kingsbridge has four sites across the UK in London, Tewkesbury, Liverpool and Leicester and now employs around 100 people, having doubled in size over the past three years. The business has been backed by private equity group Dunedin since May 2016.
Commenting on the results, James Twining, Group CEO said “These strong results demonstrate how the investments that Kingsbridge has made in its people, distribution channels and technology have placed us in a unique position to benefit from the rapid growth in the flexible workforce and the resulting acceleration in demand for suitable insurance protection.”
“Our long term strategy is to become the world’s leading provider of financial services to the contractor and freelancer community. We will continue to invest in enhancing our offering through access to a broader set of related financial products and services, improving our technology, making selected bolt-on acquisitions and in expanding our geographic reach to other international markets, many of which share the same long term workforce trends as the UK.”
“I would like to thank all my colleagues, partners, capacity providers and customers for their continued support.”
For further information, please contact Equity Dynamics
Corinna Vere Nicoll:
Mobile: +44 (0) 7825 326 440
E: corinna@equitydynamics.co.uk
Emily Weston:
Tel: +44 (0)7967 838 205
E: emily@equitydynamics.co.uk
NOTES TO EDITORS
The Kingsbridge Group, founded in 2007, has grown to become one of the UK’s leading providers of specialist insurance and IR35 services to the UK’s rapidly growing contingent workforce of contractors, freelancers and gig workers, through its Kingsbridge Contractor Insurance, Larsen Howie and Dinghy brands. It is also one of the leading providers of specialist broking services to large corporates in the utility, recruitment and other industries. Compound annual revenue growth over the past three years is in excess of 20% and it now services over 50,000 corporate customers. It recently sold its first policy in Ireland, as part of its strategy to work with its partners to expand internationally.
The Kingsbridge Group, which employs around 100 people, is headquartered in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, and has offices in London, Liverpool, Guernsey and Leicester (Larsen Howie). The Group is privately owned by management and Dunedin LLP, one of the UK’s leading private equity houses.
Kingsbridge was named as the 2018 Independent Broker of the Year by Insurance Times.
For more information, please visit www.kingsbridgegroup.com.
- The Freelance Project and Gig Economies of the 21st Century, Centre for Research on Self Employment, June 2019
- The Freelance Project and Gig Economies of the 21st Century, Centre for Research on Self Employment, June 2019
- https://disruption50.com/top50-most-disruptive/
