Brunel Group has announced their expansion into north east England with the opening of their new office in Stockton-on-Tees. This expansion will strengthen the company’s northern presence and better meet the needs of our new and existing northern clients.
The Stockton team had the delight of welcoming Ben Houchen, Mayor of Tees Valley, to formally open the new office on Tuesday 22nd December. Ben joined Brunel in an official ribbon cutting to celebrate this move into the Stockton-on-Tees area.
Brunel Group has a strong presence across the South and are excited to extend the business into the North creating more job opportunities for the local community. The group offers a complete insurance and financial planning solution to clients and will continue to extend their northern client base from the new office.
They provide expert advice to both businesses and individuals across a vast range of matters relating to insurance and financial services. Its commercial insurance broking business, Brunel Insurance Brokers Ltd, has achieved chartered status, the gold standard award within insurance while the financial services business boasts professional, trusted and highly experienced planners. The group also specialises in employee benefits and personal insurances.
Following the success of the Brunel Group (est. 2005), Brunel Insurance Brokers Ltd was founded in 2017 by CEO Russell Lane and MD Matt Harlin in order to provide a fully independent commercial broking service to businesses of all sizes. With an already well-established south west, Midlands and London presence for commercial and personal insurances, plans to develop operations in Teesside were initiated by CEO Russell Lane who relocated as part of the expansion.
Russell is passionate about the Teesside area and has recently relocated with his family from Bristol to Stockton-on-Tees. When the opportunity to open a new office arose, Russell took the exciting step to expand into an area he is so fond of.
“I love the North East, and in particular, Teesside. I find the people very friendly, hardworking, there are lots of great places to eat, a lot of green space and to be honest the Parmo swung it. I am really excited about our move and expanding the business into the North East.” Lane said.
At Brunel, we strive to create an exciting and engaging workplace and are proud to have also been named in the Best Companies to Work For 2020 list ranking the top insurance broker to work for in the South West. We are looking to repeat this in Teesside.”
The new office building, situated in Preston Farm Industrial Estate, has been renamed Brunel Group House and has undergone a complete refurbishment by local firm 168 Property Solutions prior to welcoming a new team of local experts. After many interviews, Russell was keen to hire an experienced, passionate and qualified team and was enthusiastic about hiring locally, creating more jobs in the Teesside area.
The Brunel team have carried out thorough risk management with strict COVID measurements in place across all offices to ensure a safe working environment. The new Stockton office already welcomes a 12-strong team for Brunel Insurance Brokers including Linda Cronin (formerly Henderson Insurance Brokers), Jamie West (formerly NC Insurance), Barry Herron (formerly Marsh) and Heather Mitchell (formerly D&G Insurance Services).
Brunel has also recruited a Business Development Manager, Steven Bunn, to support the growth of the new business team in the North. Steven joins Brunel bringing with him over 10 years’ sales experience, including 5 years in a senior position.
Brunel Insurance Brokers are actively looking for more employees in a wide range of positions as well as the wider group of financial services and employee benefits. CV’s can be sent directly to Russell Lane at russell@brunelgroup.co.uk
Russell Lane further comments:
We are lucky with our industry that we have managed to grow rapidly throughout the Covid crisis, and have continued working hard to support our clients throughout.
We trade with over 150 insurers and this allows us to save clients significant sums of money and often improve their cover while our financial services team are very busy on tax planning and pensions ahead of next year.
With the opening of our Stockton office, we are also looking to get involved in local charites and amateur sports clubs so please feel free to get in contact.
The message is clear – whether you’re looking for better cover for you or your business, looking to save on your insurance, require bespoke financial planning or seeking a new career then get in touch.