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Press Release

BGL Group shortlisted in National Business Awards 2008

Immediate release: 18 April 2008

National Business Awards Regional Finalist 2008The BGL Group, the UK's largest privately-owned personal lines insurance intermediary based in Peterborough, has been shortlisted as a finalist in two categories of the prestigious National Business Awards 2008.

The Group, winner of the Peterborough Evening Telegraph's Large Business of the Year 2007, has been shortlisted for the The Badenoch & Clark Business of the Year and The City and Guilds Employer of the Year awards in the Midlands and East of England region.

The Group's submission for The Business of the Year Award highlighted 2007 as a record year in the Group's history - a time when profits more than doubled from £22 million the previous year to £47 million. Performance exceeded the company's plans so significantly that the Group revised targets upwards for years to come.

Last year also saw the milestone of a new identity for the group, formerly known as the Budget Group of Companies. Significant achievements within the business units include:

  • The launch of ibuyeco, the first car insurance product to offer 100 per cent offsetting of annual carbon emissions; M&S Money extended its exclusive partnership with the Group's affinity business arm, Junction, to 2011, while the Post Office ® extended to 2012;
  • Price comparison website comparethemarket.com began a 12-month sponsorship of Channel 4's Drama Season - part of a £65 million marketing spend over the next five years.
  • Bennetts, the specialist motorcycle insurance brand achieved a 21 per cent market share - sales growth of more than 100 per cent over six years established Bennetts as the UK's number one for bike insurance.
  • Auto Trader selected Junction as a partner after a successful pilot with comparethemarket.com which generated over 90,000 quotes per month.
  • BUDGET insurance customer numbers exceeded 700,000 for the first time.

The BGL Group is also competing against DPD, Luminus Group and Best Deal Insurance on the shortlist for The Employer of the Year Award.

As a major local employer BGL Group is continually consulting its employees. One way of doing this is via the annual employee survey - Pulse - the latest of which generated responses from 79 per cent of employees. According to the results, 85 per cent of respondents agreed that the company has strong values and principles.

The survey also showed that 79% of respondents have confidence in the direction in which the company is going and 74% of respondents say they feel proud to work for the Group. This is quite some achievement considering BGL's growth - at the time of the survey, the number of employees had grown 31% since the previous year.

The next stage of both awards will be a presentation before a panel of independent judges at Sedgebrook Hall, Northampton in June, before regional winners are announced at a dinner on July 15. The winners will automatically win a place through the grand final of the National Business Awards which are held mid-November.

Peter Winslow, Chief Executive of the BGL Group said: "We know that any organisation is only as good as the people within it, and we believe reaching the National Business Awards shortlist is a great testament to our people. In my view it's our unique culture which has delivered our rapid growth and numerous achievements - it makes us an exceptional employer, something that reflected in the comments and views of all our people. I am extremely proud of the BGL Group and we are all thrilled to be recognised by these Awards."