The new insurance company launched by industry veteran Joe Henderson MBE has surpassed all early expectations according to its proud chairman.
Attis was launched in 2020 by the northern Lincolnshire professional services stalwart, almost three years after he sold his eponymous Henderson Insurance Broking Group to global giant Aon for £90 million.
He backed a team of former employees led by directors Keith Browne, Neil Beck and Justin Chadwick. They are now anticipating revenues of £6 million for 2022, with its gross written premium set to exceed £60 million. Since the start of the year it has grown the team from 75 to more than 100, with projections to be outstripped by upwards of 20 per cent.
Just like his previous firm, it has a base at Kirmington as well as a Leeds head office, with four further offices covering Manchester, West Yorkshire, Teesside, and Leicestershire – and more to come.
Mr Henderson said: “We started the business in the face of all the challenges of the global pandemic and yet we are on track to achieve robust growth that effectively puts us two years ahead of forecasts by the end of 2022.
“We expect to hit £100 million in gross written premium by 2024 and since our launch in 2020 we have also settled over £4 million in previously outstanding property insurance claims for clients.
“The exceptional costs involved in setting up the business are behind us, and were smaller than anticipated, and in the last six months we’ve got great traction. We set out to be a disruptor, challenging the complacency of industry giants and offering a fresh perspective and more effective way of doing things, and that has clearly been well received by our growing client base.
“We have a fantastic, and expanding, team in place, including an apprenticeship programme that has attracted some outstanding young people and is very much part of our long-term development plan. Added to our outstanding reputation for service and network of local offices, we have established a great foundation for growth.”
Further new offices are in the pipeline this year, with more senior hires. The firm expects to make an executive broking director appointment imminently.
Attis director Neil Beck added: “We are very clear that Attis differentiates itself from other commercial brokers in everything we do. The progress we’ve made so quickly, and faster than anticipated, shows that the UK commercial market was obviously ready for a truly independent broker, focused more clearly on service, that aims to help directors to actively protect their balance sheets from risk.
“We are already becoming known for our swift decision making and innovative client support and, as we are seeing, there is huge demand for that at the moment and we aim to maintain our expansion nationally in 2022 and beyond.”
After an early career with construction firm Peter Birse, which brought him to northern Lincolnshire from Manchester, Mr Henderson launched HIBG, building it up to a £100 million operation from a sole-trader start-up in a small Scunthorpe office over a 30-year period. It peaked at 400 staff working across 16 offices.
