AbbeyAutoline is marking an important milestone. It’s a business which has both grown substantially here but also continued to maintain its local reach and presence.
“The original business started against a fairly difficult economic backdrop in the 1970s, but it was the very entrepreneurial, charismatic business founders who helped start building this really loyal team – and the firm grew on the back of really strong relationships,” Julie Gibbons, managing director of AbbeyAutoline, said.
AbbeyAutoline now deals with some £150m in premiums, working with around 250,000 clients. It has grown its workforce to around 450 people based across 17 branches.
The firm is Northern Ireland’s largest broker but also boasts a presence in the Republic, with a branch in Co Cavan and staff based in both Dublin and Wexford.
It also has reached into the GB market with Bond Lovis and offers commercial and personal lines in the London area.
“We have a mixture of personal lines: motor, home and young driver and as well as commercial vehicle, haulage and business insurance,” Julie says.
“We have stayed ahead of the competition by spotting what is coming next. The business was merged with Autoline almost five years ago, which brought a sizeable commercial book back into the business, and that has grown substantially since then. We had a refreshed team from different backgrounds, which brought a freshness into the integrated business.
“It’s about maintaining family culture, but also being a larger corporation with that high level of engagement – and we continue to engage with our local communities as a local business.”
She says the industry has slowly evolved as a whole, moving from ratings guide books to technology enabling real-time insurer rates.
“In Northern Ireland that trusted broker status is still very relevant,” she says. “The younger generation will take their lead from friends and family, and they will ask for recommendations and act on them. They may shop around online to get a good price to negotiate, but they are still dependant on advice.”
AbbeyAutoline also understands the importance of its people to the success of its business, and why new modern working practices remain a key part of that.
“We have been able to embrace much more modern working practices in terms of hybrid and home working,” she says. That’s really important – a work/life balance.
“We still see our greatest asset as our people, with the expert advice which they give. We are building on our successes. We are looking at new markets for niche areas and are also building our commercial insurance side of the business which is really quite sizeable.”
And looking ahead, Julie says it will continue to seek opportunities and embrace new developments and technologies.
“We have our traditional model which we think is very important, but we need to stay abreast of technology and develop smart ways to weave into our business in order to modernise.”
