Giles - <h2>Gordon Crosbie to spearhead acquisition programme in Scotland following £500 million funding injection</h2>

Gordon Crosbie to spearhead acquisition programme in Scotland following £500 million funding injection

Ambitious Glasgow-based Giles Insurance Brokers has moved quickly to strengthen its Scotland presence following a £500 million injection of private equity cash.
Gordon Crosbie has been appointed as Scottish Regional Managing Director. Crosbie joined Giles in October last year following Giles’ acquisition of Falkirk-based broker Crosbie & Jack.

Since then, he has overseen Giles’ east of Scotland business and the new role means he will now be in charge of the company’s entire Scottish operation, as well as playing a key role in bringing on board new acquisitions.
Gordon was the former Managing Director of Crosbie & Jack prior to its acquisition by Giles and helped grow the business to become one of the largest independent brokers in Scotland, with offices in Falkirk, Stirling, Glasgow and Aberdeen.
Charterhouse Capital Partners and Bank of Scotland Corporate have ploughed £500 million into Giles to help the company become one of the key players in the UK broker market.

Giles will now focus its attention on growing in its Scottish heartland and is actively seeking to acquire brokers north of the border.
Gordon Crosbie said: “It has only been six months since I joined Giles, but I’ve already seen momentous changes at the company.
“The investment from Charterhouse means we can now accelerate our acquisition programme and bring some stability to the market – particularly in Scotland, where it is still very fragmented.

“This is a tremendously exciting time to be part of Giles and we are keen to ensure Scotland remains at the core of our plans for the growth of the business.”
Assisting Gordon Crosbie in the identification of potential acquisition targets will be Hazel McIntyre, who has just been appointed Mergers and Acquisitions Director. Hazel joins the company from Royal Bank of Scotland, where she spent 19 years in a variety of roles, culminating in her position as Director of Real Estate Finance.
Hazel is currently expanding her team to help accelerate Giles’ consolidation of smaller commercial brokers across the UK.

Since securing funding from Charterhouse and Bank of Scotland, Giles has already acquired Midland Risk Management in Birmingham, Robinson Leslie in Chester and DS Howell in Wales.
Hazel McIntyre said: “I’ve spent the majority of my career to date working on private equity transactions and this will be the focus of my work with Giles.
“We have made a number of strategic acquisitions in England as we seek to expand our geographical footprint, and we are now keen to hear from potential vendors north of the border.

“As Mergers & Acquisitions Director, it’s my aim to ensure the pipeline of acquisitions continues to deliver growth and value to Giles.”

Giles is one of the UK’s fastest growing commercial insurance brokers and its recent private equity backing will allow the company to escalate its acquisition strategy and build a business with £1 billion of Gross Written Premium.