Swinton pays the price for heavy competition
MANCHESTER-headquartered Swinton Insurance has taken a hit in “a highly competitive market” with turnover down 6% to £285m.
In a 12 months the insurer described as a “year of transition” in its annual results, operating profits were also down 5% to £24.2m.
However, the company said that reverse was offset by “significant cost savings”.
Swinton chief executive Gilles Normand said: “These figures represent a creditable performance in the context of a highly competitive market and a year of transition for Swinton. Although new business was written at a lower margin, it is pleasing to note that renewal rates held up well.
“To build for the future and continue to provide great service for our customers, we invested heavily in our IT systems, rolling out a new telephony system and data centre. We also launched our improved website, rebranded the business as Swinton Insurance and returned to national television advertising.”
Swinton Insurance, which is owned by the leading French insurance group Covéa, operates a multi-channel model, combining the largest specialist insurance branch network in the UK with online and call centre sales channels.
Swinton said during the year the branch portfolio was continually reviewed and, where it made business sense, branches were merged to create larger more efficient outlets.
The network of branches and call centres numbered 410 (2013: 446), including Open and Direct in Northern Ireland, while the average number of employees in 2014 was 4,027 (2013: 4,260).
