PIB Group makes its 30th acquisition through UKinsuranceNET

July 15, 2020

PIB Group Limited (‘PIB’) has announced its 30th acquisition through UKinsuranceNET (the trading name for Internet Insurance Services UK Limited ‘IISUK’), one of the UK’s leading online insurance websites. The milestone comes six weeks after PIB confirmed the start of its international expansion through Marx Re-Insurance Brokers based in Germany.

Established in 2001 and based in Stockton on Tees, UKinsuranceNET started out as an independent broker offering products for landlords’ insurance and other protection products. Since then the business has rapidly grown and specialises in providing insurance products for residential and commercial property owners including landlords, multi-occupancy homes, Airbnb, unoccupied property, holiday homes and properties undergoing renovation.

Brendan McManus, CEO for PIB Group commented: “I’m delighted to welcome everyone at UKinsuranceNET. They’re another great fit for PIB because of their specialist focus and online capabilities, as well as their brilliant customer service levels. They are a fantastic business which will further strengthen our property portfolio. I have also been particularly impressed by their continued growth in the last few months despite the challenges of the current climate, and I look forward to seeing further success with PIB’s investment and support.”

The 51-strong team pride themselves on providing a superior service through an online offering and over the telephone. Following completion of the deal, all employees will remain with the business led by Managing Director Suzanne Eeles, with Steve Bradley (founder and previous MD) providing support on a consultancy basis.

Suzanne Eeles, Managing Director, for UKinsuranceNET commented: “After 20 years as a successful independent broker, we wanted to push ourselves to the next stage. We are very excited to be joining PIB Group with a clear focus to accelerate long term sustainable growth. We were impressed by the resources that PIB can make available to us, and the opportunities this presents by developing our relationships with the other businesses in the Group. Our main focus will be on continued growth and as part of PIB we also remain committed to our current distribution channels, and the range of products we currently offer to our customers.”

UKinsuranceNET is one of several businesses that PIB has been pursuing as part of its ongoing M&A activity and growing acquisition pipeline. More deals are expected to close this year as part of PIB’s ambitious ten-year growth plan to continue building a diverse business focused on niches and specialisms across retail and wholesale assets in the UK and beyond.

Brendan McManus commented: “We have several acquisitions in due diligence at the moment, and we are working hard to understand the impact of the coronavirus on these businesses, and undertaking all the normal diligence work to make sure that we’re protected. Interestingly, the pandemic is also producing a pipeline of new deals as we’ve been contacted by people who want to sell their business and that may provide an opportunity for us. We’re a buy and build model, so we’ll continue to focus on acquisitions as much as we can.”