Endsleigh Insurance has been at the heart of higher education in the UK for over half a century. Founded by Michael Naylor and the National Union of Students (NUS) in 1965 to provide insurance to students, it’s named after the street that was home to the NUS headquarters. The broker continued to expand to become one of the biggest retail insurance chains in the country.

Since the NUS sold its stake in 1976 to Gouda Insurance International, it’s changed hands twice: a management buyout in 2002 led to new leadership forging a partnership with Zurich, which acquired all shares in 2007, and oversaw the closure of its branch network the following year; and then to A-Plan, which bought the firm in 2018, before itself being bought by international broker Howden in a deal announced in September 2020.

As well as new ownership, Endsleigh has new leadership with Alison Meckiffe taking on the role of chief executive officer in June, after Jeff Brinley left in the summer. She spoke to the Re/insurance Lounge, Intelligent Insurer’s online, on-demand platform for interviews, discussion and debate with the industry’s leading figures.

As Meckiffe explained, the deal unlocks new opportunities for Endsleigh which are central to her strategy of “bringing Endsleigh back to its greatness”.

Tie-ups

The acquisition by Howden creates new opportunities. A month after the A-Plan news, Howden announced the addition of complex commercial and private client broker Aston Lark. It establishes a UK business managing over £6 billion ($8 billion) of gross written premium and 1.7 million policyholders.

“For Endsleigh, it is super-exciting in terms of unlocking capacity that we wouldn’t previously have as a standalone business and in terms of our reach into the market,” said Meckiffe.

Specifically, the Howden tie-up broadens Endsleigh’s traditionally UK focus. “An increasing number of our schools and universities have international outposts, so we’re exploring with Howden how we can work with our UK clients and perhaps offer insurance in other territories as well,” said Meckiffe.

Overseas students coming to the UK offer significant opportunities: there are half a million of them, she points out, about a quarter of the total student population. “International students are our key market,” she said.

It creates less obvious synergies, too. Endsleigh has an active charity and non-profit business—a fact that’s less surprising when you realise most universities are established as charities, as are many private schools—and Endsleigh is keen to expand this.

“We’re seeing double-digit growth year on year, so we’re going deep within charities,” said Meckiffe. Endsleigh looking to launch a solution for complex charity risk early next year, as well as a simple indemnification online product for small charities.

The consolidation also enables it to draw on connections with the wider group—many of Howdens high net worth clients, for example, are trustees of charities.

“For insurers, there’s a benefit from consolidation because you’re more of a one-stop shop,” she said.

Timing issues

The acquisition has brought new opportunities, but Meckiffe’s short tenure has not been without difficulties. She took on the job in June 2020—the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Everyone was still at home, and the pandemic was very real for many people,” she recalled.

As well as the obvious internal challenges, there have been significant impacts on key markets. The international student business is, again, a good example. Endsleigh is significantly involved in providing travel insurance to students, and travel block policies to schools and “pathway providers” who bring international students into the UK. That largely died off.

It’s begun to bounce back this year, however, with international student rates at about 70 percent of 2019 numbers, according to Meckiffe. And, even when students are based in territories where travel is restricted, universities are now offering packages to cover them in their host countries.

“They’re talking to us about provision for overseas assistance programmes for these students, so the market has changed,” she said. “We’ve definitely seen it advance in 2021, even if it’s not there yet.”

At the same time, the diversification of the business has meant it could redeploy people to other areas. As well as charities, education organisations are central to its business, and that goes beyond the universities:

From nurseries up, Endsleigh provides a range of commercial insurance for institutions. It also, in early 2020, acquired school fees specialist insurance group SFS—an acquisition that gave it a foothold in the south of England, where the firm has traditionally been less strong.

Along with charities and education the third key area of focus remains where the business began: with students. The company launched its new app and online offering at Freshers’ Weeks which took place across campuses in September and October.

“We reviewed how we become relevant again for students within the 21st-century context,” explained Meckiffe. While it may no longer have branches on campus, Endsleigh was still able to draw on its relationship with the NUS, which remains a shareholder in the business.

“We developed this in conjunction with students because having the NUS as a shareholder means we have unique access to students,” she said. “It was founded on insight and data and endorsed by the NUS.”

The business already enjoys significant penetration in the market but has ambitious growth plans, aiming to secure one million students over the next three years. If it succeeds, that would be half the UK’s student population, and perhaps an impressive measure of “greatness”.

To view the full Re/insurance Lounge interview click here

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