Scots broker gains 80,000 customers in first year

A SCOTTISH insurance broker run by the former head of Kwik-Fit’s financial services business has attracted 80,000 customers in its first year of operation.
CEO Brendan Devine's Sure Thingh has beaten pre-launch targets. Picture: ContributedCEO Brendan Devine's Sure Thingh has beaten pre-launch targets. Picture: Contributed
CEO Brendan Devine's Sure Thingh has beaten pre-launch targets. Picture: Contributed

Sure Thing Insurance Services, which was launched by Brendan Devine in April 2014, also said it had outstripped its pre-launch targets, with sales up 190 per cent on forecasts. Staff numbers are expected to quadruple over the next four years.

Sure Thing is now featured on seven major price comparison websites, including Compare the Market, Confused, Go Compare and Moneysupermarket, and the panel of underwriters it deals with has grown from ten to 19.

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Chief executive Devine, previously group managing director of Kwik-Fit Financial Services, said: “We’ve exceeded all expectations in terms of what we set out to do.

“It goes to show that the senior team is highly respected within the industry and that we’ve cultivated and maintained relationships with key figures. Our people really make the business what it is, and it will be our people who make all the difference as we grow during the latter half of 2015.”

Since launching, employee numbers have grown from 25 to almost 100 at its premises in Maxim Park in Eurocentral, Holytown, North Lanarkshire.

Staff numbers are projected to reach 400 by 2019.

The company has recently appointed Stephen Robertson, who has held senior positions with Kwik-Fit Insurance and Tesco Bank, as pricing director and he will join Sure Thing in September.

Devine said that the business was now actively looking into the launch of a number of new products.

“Following such a successful initial year, we’re carefully considering our next moves, which are likely to take us into new product markets, as well as laying the groundwork for more ambitious long term plans,” he said.

“As our team continues to expand and customer volumes go from strength to strength, we’re looking forward to an even more fruitful second year in business.”