This Is Tees Valley This Is Tees Valley - Issue 1 2020 | Page 69

Tees Valley
WORDS: JOANNE BARRETT
PICTURE: TOM BANKS
has it covered
Welcome - Erimus commercial director
Paul Davison (right) with new operations
director Lee Elgie.
T
here’s a unique selling point at
Erimus Insurance Brokers.
One that sets it apart from its
competition and one that its whole
team of 40-plus people are rightly proud of.
It is also one amongst many positives that
have earned this Tees firm a nationwide
reputation for high-quality service with a
personal touch.
Erimus, based at Preston Farm in
Stockton-on-Tees, is the largest independent
insurance broker with a head office in the
North-East of England. It competes on a
national and international level alongside
the big-hitting corporates of the insurance
industry, but with a heart in the Tees Valley,
the firm is dedicated to giving back to its
home region.
Put simply, clients get the best of both
worlds – they get to deal with a privately-
owned independent insurance broker with
the buying power of a global.
The firm gets the best of both worlds
too – it can offer clients that oh-so-sought-
after detailed and dependable expertise and
service and staff get to enjoy all the benefits
of being based in a friendly corner of the
North-East that has stunning landscapes,
coast, countryside and first-class facilities
right on its doorstep.
For proof, all you have to do is ask
Erimus’s new operations director Lee Elgie.
Born in the Tees Valley, he’s lived and
worked around the country.
It was the respect the industry has for
Independent insurance
broker Erimus on the
premium qualities of
doing business in the
North-East
Erimus that drew him back to his home
patch from a top-level job in Leeds.
“I’m from this area originally, I’ve lived
around the UK but this has always been
home,” says Lee.
“I was waiting for that right opportunity
at the right time, Erimus has a really good
reputation both in this area and outside of
it and in addition, the company believes in
investing back and cares about local people.
“That does matter, it does make a
difference. It was the right time to come here
– this area gets a lot of stick from people who
have never been here but it is a great place
to be.”
“We are the largest
independent insurance
broker headquartered in
the North-East of England.”
Specialists in commercial and corporate
insurance, Erimus was established in 1986
and has grown steadily to gain a place in the
top 100 independent brokers in the UK.
It serves clients from owner-managed
SMEs to multimillion-pound turnover
companies in industries as diverse as haulage
to solicitors to contractors. The firm has a
strong client base in the Tees region and
around the North as well as nationally and
internationally.
Targeting a £20m turnover, Erimus
continues to expand with a "right people,
right place" approach, always following
the company mantra of endeavouring to
create high level, service-driven, long-term
relationships with clients.
“We are the largest independent insurance
broker headquartered in the North-East of
England,” explains commercial director Paul
Davison.
“That’s quite a strong USP when we are
speaking to businesses. We have a vested
interest in saying you don’t have to spend
your money outside the region.
“We have doubled in size in the past ten
years in terms of revenue and head count
and have clients the length and breadth of
the country.
“Our client-centric service aims to create
long-term relationships - a big advantage
when competing against the big corporates,
many of whom have acquired businesses in
the North-East to later move client handling
responsibilities out of the region or close the
office completely.”
Erimus means "We shall be" in Latin and is
the motto on Middlesbrough’s heraldic coat of
arms – choosing it was no accident as it means
the firm retains a link to its home region.
The North, primarily, is where Erimus sees
its immediate future expansion ground but,
crucially, this forward-thinking firm does
not limit itself to geography.
“It is all about good opportunities that
present themselves, serving market demand
and building the reputation of the Tees
Valley,” adds Paul.
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