Winn has published its 2024 Financial Highlights, which show some very positive news;
• Revenue: £190.1m (2023: £149.6m) + 27%
• Gross Profit: £54.2m (2023: £38.3m) + 41%
• EBITDA before exceptional costs: £37.4m (2023: £24.7m) + 51%
• Employee count currently stands at 671 (2023: 531)
Jeff Winn, Executive Chairman, said: “This has been another year of exceptional performance for Winn Group despite the challenging market and macro-economic conditions. The team has demonstrated resilience and adaptability, delivering significant growth, driving the business to an
estimated valuation of £350 million. Our commitment to delivering a strong and positive customer experience continues to set us apart as a leader in the insurance services provider sector.”
The introduction of the Civil Liability Bill in May 2021 has had significant implications for legal firms, particularly those specialising in personal injury claims. High levels of uncertainty persist with restructuring and M&A continuing to characterise the sector. Winn’s ability to realign its focus and form partnerships with insurers and brokers has been a significant factor in its success. But this is only part of the Winn story as Chris Birkett, CEO, explains:
“During this period, our continuing focus on establishing protocol arrangements with motor insurers means we now have around 60% of the market covered. Extending this penetration remains a priority.”
He added:
“Our ongoing success in providing First Notification of Loss (FNOL) services to the industry is based on a strong service capability and a steadfast focus on responsiveness and customer satisfaction.”
During the year, the FNOL team grew in size and managed around 10,000 calls a month, helping motorists and their passengers navigate their way through the experience of a road collision. The business also arranged more than 20,000 hire cars for claimants with rental cost across all models remaining at the previous year’s high levels.
Motor and Hire
Traffic volumes and incidents were almost at normal year levels but road traffic accident volumes and hire instructions to the business increased by 12% and 26% respectively compared to the previous year which reflects the growth in Winn’s client base. Strong organic growth and margin improvements together with tight control of overheads in an inflationary environment have also been significant, as has a supportive ‘family’ work culture that generates high levels of employee engagement.
The business is also rightly proud of its Trustpilot online review performance, which sees Winn score 4.8 from more than 10,000 reviews against an industry average of 3.7.
The success story at Winn extends to all parts of the business. On Hire Limited revenue has increased by 29% because of increased levels of hire, repair, recovery and storage instructions, improved protocol hire recovery, and growth in ancillary revenue, including salvage. Winn Solicitors ended the financial year with a 6% overall increase in legal fees thanks to the significant increase in non-PI legal fees (71%).
Innovation
In conjunction with Palladium, the business undertook an extensive AI readiness review, identifying exciting AI projects to leverage the way in which AI can transform the accident management/insurer BPO space. A Head of Innovation has been appointed and a separate Change Team constructed to ensure the success of transformative AI projects. These investments and ongoing projects allow for ease of scalability as the organisation continues to grow.
The Future
“The group is in a strong financial position and well placed to take advantage of business opportunities if the strategic fit is right, Chris Birkett said. “We are also looking at extend our services for insurer clients to include the management of fault incidents, which we feel could come under
Consumer Duty requirements.”
He added:
“We are also actively participating in several significant tenders for sizeable accounts and we believe with our robust capabilities and proven track record we are positioned favourably to secure these opportunities. Together with the support of the senior team and our colleagues I am looking forward to the next 12 months and eagerly anticipating another year of success for the business.”
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