Southampton: Gallagher acquires Portmore Insurance Brokers

Gallagher has bought Southampton-based Portmore Insurance Brokers for an undisclosed sum. The deal includes Portmore Insurance Brokers and Portmore Insurance Brokers (Wiltshire).

Portmore was established in 2006 and is a mid-market focused commercial broker covering a number of industry sectors, including both private and public sector businesses. Portmore and its team of nearly 40 insurance professionals will become part of Gallagher’s retail branch network, which serves its customers from more than 50 locations around the UK.

The business is led by founders and joint managing directors Graham Jacobs and Paul Chapman and has expanded significantly in recent years through consistently strong annual organic growth, said Gallagher in a statement.

“It’s fantastic to welcome the team from Portmore into the Gallagher family today. Their business is an excellent fit for our strategy in the UK,” commented Michael Rea, CEO of UK Retail for Gallagher. Gallagher is the brand name of Arthur J Gallagher & Co, the Rolling Meadows, Illinois-based broker.

He added: “They are exactly the right type of well-run, commercially led, growing regional broker we’re looking for to further strengthen and complement our existing UK branch network. Together with our existing operations in Southampton and Chichester, Portmore will help Gallagher become the pre-eminent commercial broker on the South Coast.”