County Group buys Taylor Francis

Taylor Francis, established in 2011 by managing director and owner Tim Taylor, is primarily a retail commercial broker with two offices, in Newport South Wales, and Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire.

The firm will continue to trade from its current offices following the takeover. The price of the deal has not been revealed.

Taylor said: “County Group will provide our business, our people and our clients with a solid base from which to continue to grow.

“In our discussions with Alastair Christopherson (CEO of County Group) he stressed that community roots were a prime driver of value for our business. Our local experience and knowledge were an important factor behind County Group’s interest in us and we fully intend to continue to ‘act local’ under new ownership.”

Christopherson flagged that the deal pipeline remained “extremely strong” after securing the fourth buy of 2022.

County bought broker Marsh and Co, and its MGA, Ginger Markets, for an undisclosed sum in May. March & Co is based in Leicester and also has a branch office in Weston-super-Mare.

The two deals before this were both in Wales. County snapped up Cardiff-based PG Insurance in March and bought Archenfield, which operates out of offices in Monmouth and Cardiff Bay, in April.

Firepower

Christopherson stated: “A number of vendors have reflected on their position post pandemic and see the advantages in the support and firepower provided by County and GRP.

“We were really impressed with the entrepreneurial spirit in the Taylor Francis team, and the desire to continue to deepen their community footprint in South Wales and Buckinghamshire.”

Concluding: “It’s great that they’ve chosen us to be the custodians of their business and their clients for the future and I look forward to supporting them in the next stage of their growth.”

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