Oldest working insurance broker Denney celebrates birthday

BRITAIN’S oldest working insurance broker, director of Henderson Employee Benefits Brian Denney, is celebrating his 80th birthday.

Mr Denney presided over a merger of his company Denney O’Hara with Henderson Insurance Brokers in 2010.

Mr Denney said: “I’m delighted to be still working and certainly have no plans to retire just yet. It’s very important that people continue to do what they love doing and try to keep busy for as long as they are mentally and physically able to do so.

“If my title of Britain’s oldest insurance broker is correct, then I am both proud and delighted. I would certainly love to reach my centenary and be the country’s only centenarian insurance broker!”

Denney O’Hara was founded in Leeds in 1958 by Mr Denney and Terry O’Hara. Mr Denney brought all 22 members of Denney O’Hara with him when his company merged with Henderson’s three years ago.

Denney O’Hara’s general insurance and wealth management list of clients now comes under the Henderson brand and Mr Denney continues to oversee wealth management clients. Denney O’Hara’s wealth management division was formed in 1966 to separate the financial services consultancy from the general insurance brokerage.

Mr Denney, who was the first provincially based national chairman of the British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA), said: “The merger represented a crucial continuity of service for clients and I was more than happy to move general insurance to Henderson’s as it has the same customer focused ‘client comes first’ ethos we have enjoyed since Terry O’Hara and I established the company back in 1958.

“The insurance market has changed considerably over the past 50 years. The business was initially routed in Yorkshire-based textile and building firms but grew over the years to support a variety of companies in Yorkshire and across the UK.

“Henderson’s is a company where the customer is at the heart of the business and this in turn has resulted in the diversity and strength of the brand”.

Henderson Insurance Brokers CEO, Joe Henderson, said: “Three years after the acquisition we are both delighted about the way it’s gone. It’s been a real success story from all points of view; both Brian’s financial services business which added a huge part of our group jigsaw, and the general business have doubled in size in the interim period.

“Significant investment has gone in but the underlying root of the success is the quality of the staff employed by Brian, who’ve flourished under the wider Henderson umbrella.

“More importantly, Brian has handled the disposal of a privately owned proprietor led business in a very professional and commercial manner for which he wants congratulating on enormously.

“On a personal note, it’s just been a great pleasure to have him around; a man of great dignity, professionalism and sincerity.”

Henderson Insurance Brokers has specialist divisions in construction, manufacturing, real estate, retail, wholesale and haulage – as well as strong expertise in risk management and credit divisions. The Henderson portfolio also comprises a specialist Lloyd’s business, Contractsure, and further divisions named Surety Services, Risk Management, Healthcare and Employee Benefits.