Teesside insurance brokers grow payroll and targets £12 million turnover

The biggest insurance broker headquartered in the Tees Valley has welcomed four new staff to its team as it continues its expansion.

Stockton-based Erimus Insurance Brokers has increased its payroll to 30 as it targets a record-breaking premium income of £12 million for 2014.

Having doubled in size over the past decade, commercial insurance specialists Erimus now have clients across all business classes throughout the North-East, including a who’s who of Teesside companies large and small.

Managing director Shaun Hughes said: “With the opportunities that exist in the North-East giving us every reason to feel really positive about the future, we’ve recruited experienced, high-quality staff to complement the existing team and allow us to continue to expand our boundaries whilst maintaining a high-level service proposition.

“Many of our local competitors have sold out to large consolidators but there has been a sea change in recent years with companies of all sizes increasingly wanting to keep business local. That has created a huge opportunity for a privately-owned regional business such as ours.

“We already provide services for many of Teesside’s largest and most successful privately-owned businesses but we expect our expansion to continue as we increasingly push out across the North-East and beyond.

“The economy is showing signs of improvement, so many of our clients and prospective clients across the North-East have a positive outlook too.“

Hannah Davison has joined Erimus as new business placement broker after a career that has seen the Newcastle University graduate spend a decade as an insurance company underwriter including a spell as a Tyneside-based development underwriter with Axa.

Shaun said: “We recruited Hannah to work on new business propositions, putting together technical presentations to maximise the competiveness of quotations from the insurance market. It’s about offering an enhanced client proposition to the insurer market. Hannah has a depth of knowledge in terms of knowing what the key features are in terms of underwriters assessing the risk.”

Experienced account executive Richard Bonas has joined Erimus from Durham-based Giles Insurance Brokers to develop new business opportunities and look after an account of commercial clients.

Having also spent part of his career with insurance brokers in London, Redcar-born Richard is seeking new clients for Erimus, particularly in the County Durham area, where he has many business contacts.

Having spent the last 10 years as a loss adjuster with Newastle-based claims management firm GAB Robins, Grant Jones, from Middlesbrough, now heads up a five-strong claims department at Erimus.

Shaun said: “Having also spent a decade in London, Grant brings with him vast experience and expertise of loss adjustment, both of which will be invaluable to Erimus and our clients as we look to expand our claims service.”

The new addition to Grant’s team is senior claims negotiator Neale Wytcherly, who joins Erimus having worked as claims manager at Darlington’s BIB Insurance Brokers for the last 10 years.

Shaun added: “We are always looking to add both experience and potential to the team to allow us to continue to develop and expand as a business. Hopefully, we’ll have further additions in the near future.”

Established in 1986, Erimus’ clients range from owner-managed SME’s to companies with a turnover of more than £200 million.

Erimus work closely with leading global brokers Willis Ltd, giving the company access to the resources of more than 20,000 dedicated associates throughout the world, with specialists in every industry sector.