Norwich Union, the UK’s largest insurer, has agreed to sell the Norwich Union Mortgage Club (NUMC) to Bankhall, one of the UK’s leading suppliers of intermediary services. The sale is expected to complete by the end of the first week in May 2004.
Norwich Union, the UK’s largest insurer, has agreed to sell the Norwich Union Mortgage Club (NUMC) to Bankhall, one of the UK’s leading suppliers of intermediary services. The sale is expected to complete by the end of the first week in May 2004.
NUMC is currently the fourth biggest mortgage broker club in the UK, representing 35 lenders and distributing mortgages through more than 7,000 intermediaries. In 2003, NUMC brokered almost Ł8 billion of mortgage applications.
Commenting on the sale, Norwich Union’s sales & marketing director, Peter Hales, said: "With the onset of regulatory change in the mortgage market, intermediaries who have supported NUMC will require additional services such as authorisation and compliance. The sale of NUMC to Bankhall will give intermediaries access to these services. We will continue to work closely with our distribution partners to help them capitalise on the opportunities offered by the mortgage market."
Paul Hogarth, chief executive of Bankhall, said: "This acquisition gives Bankhall greater access to an even wider range of mortgage suppliers and enables us to offer an even better service to the intermediary mortgage market.
"This announcement further reinforces our objective of being the pre-eminent support services provider and takes us a step closer to our vision of a unique "one-stop shop" for mortgage and general insurance intermediaries as we move towards regulation later this year".
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Press office contacts
Norwich Union: James Evans 01904 452791 Out of hours 07790 487105
Bankhall: Shaun Godfrey 0161 941 6076 Out of hours 07860 327593
Notes to editors
Norwich Union
- Norwich Union is the UK's largest insurer. It is the UK's largest provider of life, pensions and investment products and one of the leading IFA providers. IFAs provide around 75% of the company's long-term savings business in the UK.
- Norwich Union has strategic alliances with building societies and other leading UK brand names including Tesco Personal Finance and The Royal Bank of Scotland Group.
- Norwich Union’s news releases and a selection of images are available from Aviva's internet press centre at www.aviva.com/media
Bankhall
- Bankhall is one of the leading service providers to UK IFAs, supplying compliance, training, marketing and IT support as well as negotiating highly competitive financial terms from product providers for its members. Bankhall supports more than 2,000 IFA firms throughout the UK representing over 5,500 registered individuals. Bankhall became a subsidiary of Skandia in February 2002.
- www.bankhall.co.uk