GRP builds South Wales market presence with latest M&A

Global Risk Partners (GRP) has acquired a retail insurance broker which has ambitions of becoming “one of the leading players” in South East Wales.

GRP’s deal to acquire BPW Insurance Services has received regulatory approval.

Founded in 1983, BPW is a retail insurance broker based in Newport, South Wales, which specialises in commercial and property insurance.

Stephen Ross, head of M&A at GRP, said BPW fulfilled a number of core M&A criteria of the company. “It is a highly successful local business, and Paul is a well-known insurance leader in South Wales. He is focused on building out BPW’s market presence, and we are keen to support his plans,” he said.

“The business has deep roots in its community and has an excellent reputation with its clients. Paul and his team are progressive, dynamic and entrepreneurial, and I’m really pleased they’ve chosen GRP to be the custodians for their business,” added Ross.

Paul Wiggins, the managing director, will continue to lead the business post deal with his fellow directors, Jason Evans, Ian O’Brien, Alison Phillips and Alisha Edwards. Along with the directors, their team of 23 colleagues will all remain with the business.

Wiggins said: “GRP is backing us to become one of the leading players in South East Wales, and with their support, I am confident that we can rise to those expectations.”

“The value of being part of a bigger group is not just the better access to insurer partners and resultant enhanced product offerings to our clients, but also the opportunity to utilise GRP’s central resources to help us to focus on our clients and grow our business. We are all very excited about the prospect of being part of the GRP/Brown & Brown team, and 2023 promises to be an exciting year for us.”

Ross noted: “We have started 2023 in a very positive fashion, with the purchase of BPW following the deals for Christopher Trigg and Nucleus announced in the last week.”

“We remain keen to talk to vendors looking to create value from their life’s work, and we have a variety of M&A solutions available to meet their needs and provide them and their colleagues with a great platform for the future.”

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