Howden insurance boss hopes to keep growing in Greater Manchester as he hails region's 'energy and excitement'

Insurance giant Howden has opened a new Greater Manchester hub – and the group’s UK boss hopes to hire more staff in the area.

Carl Shuker, CEO of Howden UK & Ireland, says the North West is a key growth area for the company and that he hopes the Salford office will grow along with the company.

Howden last year bought Manchester’s Reich Insurance to grow its North West operations. That followed the 2020 acquisition of personal insurance broker A-Plan, giving it retail branches in Altrincham and Wilmslow. The acquisitions have since been rebranded as Howden.

Now it has opened a new North West office in Chapel Street, Salford – which it is calling Howden House. The building is home to some 200 people, including employees from other firms acquired by Howden such as UKGlobal and SPF Private Clients.

Mr Shuker said he and his team were hugely impressed by Greater Manchester.

He said: “I just think it's full of energy. It's full of excitement. It's growing. And although I'm Southern-based, you hear all the time about how Manchester is really a happening region.

“So it makes sense for us to be there. And our plan is to double the size of the business by 2030. That’s not that long away. And that ambition is really backed by our track record.

“And with that doubling of growth, we’ll bring more highly-skilled jobs to local people.

“I just love the energy of the people. I was there at the opening and the sense of passion was so palpable. Everybody really cares. Everybody's really excited. And I feed on the positive energy of others, if you know what I mean. That's very exciting for us.”

Howden announced in March 2023 that it was buying Reich, with the group’s executive chairman Peter Blanc saying: “Their reputation is outstanding and their areas of specialism, particularly in real estate and construction as well as healthcare, are completely aligned with Howden. All of our discussions were centred on the future and how the Reich team would fit within the Howden business – and the answer is that it’s a perfect match.”

The deal was formally completed last month, with Reich being rebranded as Howden.

Mr Shuker said: “We acquired Reich as a strategic acquisition to establish us in the North West, and now the North West is really important for us because there is so much economic growth, so much inward investment.

“We see a really nice opportunity to serve the local business community as well as those who've got car insurance, home insurance. So we've got a couple of large branches there. We've got Macclesfield, Wilmslow and Altrincham.

“Having that Manchester hub really enables us to leverage our scale to invest in our brand, to invest in growth and support our clients with all of their insurance needs locally.”

Howden has some 6,000 team members in the UK and Ireland, with some 200 branches. Mr Shuker said: “One of the key differentiators for us is that, especially when it comes to personal insurance, it's (generally) all online – but we offer an alternative where actually you can go in or pick up the phone. You don't press one for this, press two for that. You speak to the person you want to speak to and they answer the phone quickly.

“So the establishment of Howden House really cements our ambition in the area.”

Staff at Howden House will work across Howden’s portfolio, from working with SMEs and construction firms to covering home and car insurance. Mr Shuker said: “If you think of an insurance need, we can cover it from that centre. And likewise from the three satellite branches."