Early days
In the late 1950s, more people were buying cars than ever before - but finding car insurance wasn't all that easy. That began to change when Swinton opened its first branch in Salford and started a new way to buy insurance. We've been setting trends ever since.
The company grew rapidly through the 1960s as more customers recommended us to their friends and colleagues. That gave us the confidence to be the first insurance broker to advertise on TV - which led to even greater success.
Introducing technology
In the 1980s we made the bold step (for the time!) to computerise our quotation system and customer records. With the efficiency this brought, we expanded our branch network beyond the north west and right across the UK.
In the early 1990s, we became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sun Alliance (now Royal & Sun Alliance). Increasing use of technology meant that we were trading electronically with all major car insurers by the middle of the decade. We also opened our first national Telesales and Service Centre in Manchester and introduced a freephone quotation line to link all our branches to the call centre.
Into the 21st Century
In May 2001, Swinton was bought by La Mutuelle Du Mans Assurance (MMA), a French insurer. This led to us becoming even stronger, with a new corporate identity, new uniforms for all our advisers and a new customer-friendly environment in all branches.
In May 2002 we bought Colonnade Insurance Brokers retail business and instantly had branches across 90% of the UK. The acquisition of the Budget retail branch network in August 2006 added a further 90 branches nationwide and meant that we had acquired a total of 250 brokers in the past five years alone.
A very healthy 50-year old!
In the 50 years since the first Swinton branch opened in Salford, we have grown into a very different but extremely fit company.
- We have over 3,000 employees.
- We are now responsible for over 2 million insurance policies.
- More and more are being taken up over the internet.
- Our sales efforts are supported by our two UK call centres, in Manchester and Halifax.
- With 442 branches, we are the largest High Street insurance chain in the UK.
In essence, we are a one-stop source of insurance and related cover for our customers' homes, cars, caravans, businesses, holidays, pets, motorbikes - and even classic cars. We price check the UK's top insurers to find the best cover at the best price for our customers.
And the future? We aim to take on the giants of the insurance industry and show that, because we care for our customers, we can become the leading retailer in the personal insurance market.