B.P. Marsh & Partners PLC Investee Company Update
August 25 2020 - 5:36AM
RNS Non-Regulatory
TIDMBPM
B.P. Marsh & Partners PLC
25 August 2020
Date: 25(th) August 2020
On behalf of: B.P. Marsh & Partners Plc
Immediate Release
B.P. Marsh & Partners Plc
("B.P. Marsh", "the Company" or "the Group")
Investee Company Update - Walsingham Motor Insurance Limited
B.P. Marsh & Partners Plc (AIM: BPM), the specialist
investor in early stage financial services businesses, is pleased
to present an update on one of its investments, Walsingham Motor
Insurance Limited ("Walsingham").
Walsingham is a London based Managing General Agency,
specialising in fleet insurance for public and private taxi fleets
and couriers in the UK. It is backed by The New India Assurance Co.
Ltd ("New India"), the Indian government owned insurance company
with GBP9bn of assets, who have been operating in the London market
since 1921. Walsingham have grown from a start-up to now writing
over GBP26,000,000 in Gross Written Premiums ("GWP").
B.P. Marsh invested in Walsingham in December 2013, and owns a
40.5% direct shareholding, together with an additional indirect
2.3% via Walsingham Holdings Limited. In total it has invested
GBP600,000 in equity and valued this combined holding at
GBP2,103,000 at 31(st) January 2020. In addition, B.P. Marsh also
provided GBP1,200,000 of loan funding to support expansion which
was repaid in full in July 2020.
Walsingham's business was impacted by Covid-19 and the lockdown
restrictions. They foresaw that their taxi portfolio, which
represents c.50% of their book, would be subject to mass
cancellations, and the courier portfolio would see increased
vehicles and drivers. Walsingham immediately recognised the need to
allow taxi policyholders flexibility in their work and allowed for
food and shopping deliveries as well as various NHS support work to
be undertaken without the need for policy extensions. This meant
the retention of taxi fleets on the portfolio, which are once again
already approaching full capacity.
Walsingham's team worked hard to keep up to date with requests
for vehicles to be added to courier fleets, while ensuring that
driver underwriting criteria was still being adhered to. This
effort not only helped their Brokers and Policyholders, but also
local communities reliant on drivers' incomes and distribution of
food and medicines.
Walsingham saw approximately 10% of their book reduce over a
four-week period as taxi drivers reacted to the lockdown. However,
due to Walsingham's initiative and flexibility, as those
restrictions eased GWP has increased significantly such that the
initial Covid-19 reductions have now reversed, and the business is
back on its original budget. At the same time, due to reduced
traffic on the road this has resulted in significantly reduced
claims frequencies over the last four months.
Garry Watson, Walsingham's CEO stated "At a time when many
businesses within our sector are struggling to come to terms with
the impact of Covid-19, Walsingham has not furloughed any staff and
has been able to repay our outstanding investor loan ahead of
schedule . The business has shown its trading strength during this
unique period and capitalised on its core strengths; namely
flexibility, organisation and planning, while utilising the
excellent relationships we have built with our trading
partners."
For further information:
B.P. Marsh & Partners Plc www.bpmarsh.co.uk
Brian Marsh OBE +44 (0)20 7233 3112
Nominated Adviser & Broker
Panmure Gordon
Atholl Tweedie / Charles Leigh-Pemberton
/ Ailsa MacMaster +44 (0)20 7886 2500
Financial PR & Investor Relations
Tavistock bpmarsh@tavistock.co.uk
Simon Hudson / Tim Pearson +44 (0)20 7920 3150
Notes to Editors:
B.P. Marsh's current portfolio contains eighteen companies. More
detailed descriptions of the portfolio can be found at
www.bpmarsh.co.uk .
Since formation over 25 years ago, the Company has assembled a
management team with considerable experience both in the financial
services sector and in managing private equity investments. Many of
the directors have worked with each other in previous roles, and
all have worked with each other for approaching ten years.
- Ends -
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