Country and Commercial Insurance Brokers Ltd (CCIB), the specialist agricultural insurance broker that is part of Global Risk Partners (GRP) has acquired the share capital of Barpax Associates (Barpax), an agricultural broker based in Worcester.
Barpax was founded in 2003 by Geoff Barber and Maria Paxton, who will remain as Directors of the business. They and their team are well known within the farming sector in Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire, and their business handles insurance for farmers and growers for farm combined and motor.
Debbie Airey, managing director of CCIB, said the acquisition will “build our footprint beyond CCIB’s Lancashire heartland and give us a solid base for growth in The Three Counties.”
“Barpax is a well established business with a great brand which is underpinned by its reputation for excellent customer service. Geoff and Maria have built Barpax from scratch and I’m delighted to welcome them and their team to CCIB and GRP.”
“CCIB will be able to bring the added firepower from being part of the GRP family to build out the operation faster and further.”
This is the second acquisition for Airey since she and partner Anne Haworth sold a majority stake in CCIB to GRP in January 2018. Debbie Airey said: “It was always part of our strategy that, with GRP’s help, we would grow CCIB both organically and through bolt-on acquisitions. Agricultural insurance is an important part of GRP’s retail portfolio and we believe there are plenty of other opportunities in the pipeline.”
Mike Bruce, GRP’s Group MD, said: “Barpax is a great local business with a strong heritage and very high client retention within its footprint. I am confident that this acquisition will deliver additional product and service benefits to their clients and that, under Debbie’s leadership, Barpax will accelerate rapidly within CCIB.”
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