Aston Lark announces the acquisition of two brokers

Chartered insurance broker, Aston Lark has announced the acquisition of two broking firms, Risk Alliance Limited and Risk Alliance International, both subsidiaries of Risk Alliance Group.

Risk Alliance Limited is a specialist Schemes broker based in Bingley, West Yorkshire, with specialisms in photographers, the leisure sector and non-standard household.

Risk Alliance International Limited is a Belfast-based broker with a particular focus on the haulage and logistics industries. Both were acquired by Accelerant in September 2019.

The deal sees a total of 14 staff move across to Aston Lark in Bingley and a further nine members of staff in Belfast, with a combined GWP of £12mn across the two businesses.

Chris Lee-Smith, head of distribution at Accelerant, said: “Accelerant is a pure underwriting group and, as such, it was always our intention to partner with a broker to find the next home for the broking businesses acquired with the acquisition of Risk Alliance Group. Aston Lark were the natural partner for us as we wanted to find an excellent long-term home for the quality teams in Belfast and Bingley. This deal leaves Accelerant with NBS, which is a pure underwriting entity.”

Peter Blanc, group CEO of Aston Lark, said: “We are very excited to have added both Risk Alliance and Risk Alliance International to the Aston Lark family.  Geographically, both acquisitions are an excellent fit for Aston Lark giving us our first presence in Northern Ireland and our first presence in Yorkshire. We look forward to working with the management teams, comprising Adrian Wilson and Gareth Morgan in Belfast and Daphne Pickles, Daniel Hobson and Abbie Mason in Bingley, to help them to grow in their various areas of specialism.”