News

Additions Bring Membership in Two Networks to 106 Independent Brokers

London, UK, April 1, 2010 – Willis Group Holdings (NYSE: WSH), the global insurance broker, today announced that six new members have joined Willis Networks, its partnerships with local, independent insurance brokers in the UK, bringing the network's combined membership to 106 firms.

Willis Networks is made up of the Willis Commercial Network (WCN), which represents brokers placing annual premiums of between £3 million and £40 million, and Willis N2, representing smaller community brokers with up to £3 million in annual premium placements. Each of these networks has seen the addition of three new broker members in the past few months.

The newest members of the WCN are Willis & Company (Insurance Brokers) Ltd., Waterfront Insurance Brokers Ltd. and Mitchell Charlesworth Insurance Solutions Limited. Willis Commercial Network now has 85 members. Details of the new members are as follows:

• Willis & Company (no direct connection to Willis Group Holdings) is an independent brokerage and financial services consultancy established in Belfast over 30 years ago and the first in Northern Ireland to achieve gold accreditation from the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). Billy Bennington, MD comments, "Membership of WCN underpins our strategy of continued independence and we look forward to the benefits of this key development over the coming months".
• Waterfront Insurance Brokers, based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, was established in December 2009 and serves commercial manufacturing and property owners. The new venture's Principle, Steve Manning, has returned to the Network after buying back his business, previously known as Wilkinson Rogers, from Oval.
• Mitchell Charlesworth Insurance Solutions Limited is a leading North West firm of chartered accountants and business advisors with offices in Chester, Liverpool, Manchester, Warrington and Widnes. They have established a new general insurance brokerage.

Willis N2 announced that Absolute Insurance Brokers Ltd., Executive Benefit Consultancy Limited and Wilsons Insurance Group will join the now 21-strong network:

• Absolute Insurance Brokers is a privately-owned and independent company, based in Croydon, Surrey. Established in July 2009, Absolute aims to provide an exceptional personal service to corporate clients.
• Executive Benefit Consultancy Ltd, a financial services broker based in Glasgow, was established more than 10 years ago. It plans to build on its excellent client relationships to expand its new commercial insurance broking arm.
• Manchester-based Wilsons Insurance Group, established in 1969, has ambitious plans to develop its commercial account with the support of the Network.

The six new members are in addition to the two new Northern Ireland-based Network Members, McCausland Light & Rankin and Dickson & Co, that were announced in January.

Phil Scarrett, Managing Director, Willis Networks UK, said, "We are thrilled to have added these six fine firms to our network – a great start to our year.  We hope this will set the pace for the rest of the year, as we move closer to our goal of attracting more than 100 members to each of these networks, respectively.  Our network members enjoy the benefit of having access to Willis' global resources and expertise, allowing them to meet any client need. We welcome our newest members and look forward to working with them as part of our network community."