Howden snaps up UK broker to expand in professional indemnity market

UK-based Howden, the retail broking arm of Hyperion Insurance Group, is acquiring a professional indemnity insurance broker specialising in the UK solicitor sector to further expand its offering in the PI market.

The broker has reached an agreement to acquire St Giles Legal & Professional Risks.

Following the deal, senior directors Mark Thomsen and Simon Gale will join Howden’s financial lines group with director Malcolm Gordon, providing consultancy support.

Mark Westgarth, managing director, UK regions, Howden Broking, said: “St Giles is a highly regarded and specialist broker of professional indemnity insurance. We are delighted to be bringing our talents together for the long-term benefit of our collective client base.

"We can offer greater scale and a depth of expertise that, combined with the experts at St Giles, will deliver better solutions for our mutual clients, in what are currently very challenging market conditions for them. We always strive to be part of the solution to tough challenges and our investment in additional expertise again demonstrates our strong and long term commitment to the UK legal sector."

Thomsen commented: “Simon and I are delighted to be joining Howden, which is a well-respected leader in the professional indemnity market. We know this is in the best interests of our clients and we are pleased to be joining such an experienced team.”