Simply Business

Simply Business
Private
Industry Insurance
Founded 2005
Headquarters London, United Kingdom
Key people

Jason Stockwood (Group CEO)

Chris Slater (USA CEO)

David Summers (COO)

Fiona McSwein (CCO)

Alan Thomas (CCO)

Neil Edwards (CFO)

Lukas Oberhuber (CTO)
Products Business insurance, Shop insurance and Landlord insurance
Revenue £40 million (2015)
Number of employees
 400
Website

www.simplybusiness.co.uk

www.simplybusiness.com

Simply Business is the trading name of Xbridge Ltd. It is the UK's largest online business insurance broker with 420,000 customers. The company has been featured in the Sunday Times Tech Track 100 four times and in 2015 and 2016 won The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For.

In March 2017 it was announced that The Travelers Companies lead by Alan Schnitzer agreed to acquire Simply Business from Aquiline Capital Partners LLC for an enterprise value of approximately $490 million with a successful completion of the deal made in August 2017.[1]

History

Xbridge was founded in 2000 by Brad Liebmann, Ralph Arnold, Deno Fischer and Jim Nelson, who provided £1 million in seed capital. The company experimented with a variety of ventures, including building an online marketplace for lending to small businesses.

In 2005, under the founding guidance of Tony Deacon and Chris Slater, the company chose to specialise in small business insurance, launching an online quote comparison service under the Simply Business brand. In the same year, the company opened its customer care centre in Northampton.[3]

Jason Stockwood, formerly UK and International Managing Director of match.com, joined the company as CEO in May 2010.[4]

In 2011, Simply Business signed a white label deal with moneysupermarket.com and became their exclusive provider for business insurance.[5] In the same year, the company adopted the Agile software development methodology.[6]

In August 2012, the company celebrated its 200,000th customer.[7]

In July 2013 it was announced that the company had completed a management buy-out backed by the private equity firm AnaCap Financial Partners LLP.[8]

In February 2015 Simply Business was voted first in The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies To Work For.[2]

Simply Business went on to win The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies To Work For 2016[3] with Jason Stockwood, Group CEO of Simply Business also scooping the award for the 'Best Leader' award at the ceremony.[4]

Jason Stockwood is also known as the pioneer of an empowering leadership style and people-focused culture.[5]

The mission within Simply Business is to Create Something Better,[6] including through internal Hackathons,[7] active charity engagement[8] and Build-Measure-Learn principles.

Simply Business are also a sponsor of the Start-Up Awards.[9]

In December 2016 Simply Business USA[10] was launched with offices in Boston, Massachusetts.

In March 2017, The Travelers Companies entered into an agreement to purchase Simply Business for $490m. Pending regulatory approval and closing procedures, the transaction will close in the third quarter of 2017. [11]

In August 2017 the landmark deal was completed.[1]

“Technology is driving significant change in our industry, and the knowledge, capabilities and talent that Simply Business has developed over more than a decade will contribute meaningfully to advancing our digital and innovation agendas to best serve our customers and the marketplace,” said Alan Schnitzer, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Travelers Companies.[1]

Products

The company sells insurance online to small businesses, landlords and shops within the United Kingdom. The insurers on the panel include AXA, Hiscox, Ageas, UK General, Covea, NIG, Aro, Sherwood, AIG, LV=, Modus and Arag.

Simply Business also has its own brands Finsbury, Maltings and Chiswell Insurance, which are underwritten by AXA and Great Lakes (a fully owned subsidiary of MunichRe).

Key covers include public liability insurance, professional indemnity insurance, employers' liability insurance, landlords insurance, home emergency cover, boiler breakdown, legal expenses cover and commercial property landlord insurance.

Awards

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Travelers Completes Acquisition of UK-Based Simply Business". Retrieved 2017-08-09.
  2. 1 2 "Sunday Times Best Companies To Work For 2015". Sunday Times. Retrieved 2015-02-27.
  3. 1 2 "The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies". Global Senior Executive Jobs | The Times & The Sunday Times. Retrieved 2017-02-08.
  4. 1 2 "Insurance innovator breaks the mould with happiest workforce in the UK". Retrieved 2017-02-07.
  5. ↑ "People-focused CEOs: Jason Stockwood". hrmagazine.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-02-08.
  6. ↑ "Business insurance - Compare quotes - Simply Business". www.simplybusiness.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-02-08.
  7. ↑ Simply Business (2016-06-16), #HackSomethingBetter - Create Something Better, retrieved 2017-02-08
  8. ↑ "Simply Business names Whizz Kidz as official charity partner". Retrieved 2017-02-08.
  9. ↑ "Home - Startups Awards by Startups.co.uk: Start up a successful business". Startups Awards by Startups.co.uk: Start up a successful business. Retrieved 2017-02-08.
  10. ↑ "Simply Business". www.simplybusiness.com. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
  11. ↑ https://www.ft.com/content/d721f5fe-07fe-11e7-ac5a-903b21361b43
  12. ↑ "The European Business Awards". www.businessawardseurope.com. Retrieved 2017-02-08.
  13. ↑ "The European Business Awards". www.businessawardseurope.com. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
  14. ↑ "Business Finance Awards 2016: The Winners | Financial Director". www.financialdirector.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-02-16.
  15. ↑ "Winners - Insurance Marketing and PR Awards and Conference". www.insurancemarketingawardsconf.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
  16. ↑ "National Quality & Customer Experience Awards". Quality & Customer Experience. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
  17. ↑ "Sunday Times Tech Track". Fast Track. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  18. 1 2 "Technology in Insurance Awards 2012". Insurance Times. Retrieved 2013-03-23.
  19. ↑ "UK Claims Excellence Awards". Insurance Times. Retrieved 2013-03-23.
  20. ↑ "Winners of the UK Broker Awards 2012". UK Broker Awards. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  21. ↑ "This year's winners". UK Agile Awards. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  22. ↑ "2011 Winners". UK Broker Awards. Retrieved 2013-03-23.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.