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News


Towergate completes refinancing T


Peter Cullum


owergate Partnership Ltd has announced the completion of its refinancing and £200 million investment from private equity firm Advent International. The long-term refinancing includes a £520 million corporate bond issue and £410 million of new bank debt facilities, of which £90 million will be used for acquisitions. The refinancing has resulted in Towergate’s total borrowings


HCC continues support for sailing H


CC Insurance is to continue its sponsorship of the


SailEAST series, supporting the 2011 race season. Established in 1998, the SailEAST series has become a popular event, attracting more than 80 boats each year.


SailEAST chairman Martin


Wiggins says, “The series, held throughout the year from Felixstowe to Ramsgate, provides the largest inshore regatta series of its type on the east coast. ..... With HCC on board, things are shaping up for another great year.”


Improved client communication forKeychoice brokers K


eychoice has teamed up with Briefyourmarket.com to offer brokers a client


communication system that “... makes sure they always deliver the right message to the right client at the right time”. Instead of sending generic newsletters to an entire database of clients, Keychoice members can use Briefyourmarket.com to target which clients get which parts of each communication. The aim is that every communication should be unique to a recipient, with the content selected according to each client’s wishes.


28 insurancepeople MARCH 2011


Keychoice reckons direct mail campaigns typically generate a less than 2% response rate, while mass email communications get 4%. They report that their experience suggests the


Briefyourmarket.com system generates a response rate of at least 30%.


Derek Findlayson, strategy and proposition director at Keychoice, says, “Brokers need to take advantage of every opportunity to properly communicate with their current and prospective customers. Our partnership with


BGL launches management


training programme Briefyourmarket.com


revolutionises the way that they do this, making it simpler and dramatically more effective.”


he BGL group has launched its third management training programme in partnership with the Chartered Management Institute (CMI). Launched in 2009 for senior BGL managers, each programme takes about 12 months to complete and is delivered by the CMI on-site. On completion of the programme, those attending achieve the CMI Level 7 certificate in Leadership and Management.


T Derek Findlayson


The 2010 CMI programme saw 12 employees study towards the qualification, with all 12 successfully graduating.


being reduced by over £100 million. Following completion of the refinancing, Humphrey Battcock, managing partner, and Nick Rose, director, of Advent International, together with Alastair Lyons, non- executive chairman of the Admiral Group, have joined Peter Cullum and Andy Homer on the board of the Towergate holding company. Towergate chairman Peter Cullum says, “I am delighted to


announce the completion of our long-term refinancing, which cements the investment from Advent. The speed at which we were able to complete this refinancing, and the terms on which it was agreed, are testament to our business model and leading positions in our chosen fields. This provides the firepower to accelerate our ambitious growth plans, putting us in great shape to achieve our future goals.”


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