September 15, 2021
We're delighted to announce that our motor insurance provider, 1ST CENTRAL, has reached one million customers, passing the milestone in early September 2021 - doubling the number of policyholders following the launch of a revised strategy in 2019 by the new leadership team. We celebrated the achievement by providing our millionth customer with a free policy.
Our growth comes as we continue to provide simple, straightforward insurance policies, which include 5 Star-rated Defaqto offerings, and a first-class customer experience built around our principles of “EVP” (Easy, Valued, Peace of Mind). The success of this approach has led to us being awarded ICS ServiceMark accreditation, a recognition of our consistent service excellence and the customer satisfaction, loyalty and trust it inspires, further amplified by an ‘Excellent’ Trustpilot score.
Over the last year, we've added 365 new colleagues in order to support this growth, onboarding all of them safely and offering a wide variety of digital learning courses. This has also included several key additions to our leadership team.
During what has been a very challenging period, we've also reconfirmed our commitment to give back to local communities, particularly in the areas local to our offices in Haywards Heath, Sussex, and Salford Quays, Manchester. Last year, we donated a total of £150,000 to the NHS, helping to provide lifesaving equipment, as well acting as a wellbeing facility for NHS colleagues at the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath.
We've continued to strength our relationships with Foundation 92, a charity set up by Salford City FC, helping vulnerable people in the local community, and the Sussex Cricket Foundation, which aims to change the lives of young people in the local community through cricket. This included participating in an auction to help fund the delivery of 1,200 meals to families identified as being in food poverty in the Brighton and Hove area.
“We’re delighted to hit the one million customer mark,” said Michael Lee, Group CEO. “It’s a recognition of how colleagues have gone above and beyond to deliver our customers with outstanding service, despite the challenges of the last eighteen months. I can’t wait to work alongside our team as we enter the next stage of our growth trajectory.”
Our growth comes as we continue to provide simple, straightforward insurance policies, which include 5 Star-rated Defaqto offerings, and a first-class customer experience built around our principles of “EVP” (Easy, Valued, Peace of Mind). The success of this approach has led to us being awarded ICS ServiceMark accreditation, a recognition of our consistent service excellence and the customer satisfaction, loyalty and trust it inspires, further amplified by an ‘Excellent’ Trustpilot score.
Over the last year, we've added 365 new colleagues in order to support this growth, onboarding all of them safely and offering a wide variety of digital learning courses. This has also included several key additions to our leadership team.
During what has been a very challenging period, we've also reconfirmed our commitment to give back to local communities, particularly in the areas local to our offices in Haywards Heath, Sussex, and Salford Quays, Manchester. Last year, we donated a total of £150,000 to the NHS, helping to provide lifesaving equipment, as well acting as a wellbeing facility for NHS colleagues at the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath.
We've continued to strength our relationships with Foundation 92, a charity set up by Salford City FC, helping vulnerable people in the local community, and the Sussex Cricket Foundation, which aims to change the lives of young people in the local community through cricket. This included participating in an auction to help fund the delivery of 1,200 meals to families identified as being in food poverty in the Brighton and Hove area.
“We’re delighted to hit the one million customer mark,” said Michael Lee, Group CEO. “It’s a recognition of how colleagues have gone above and beyond to deliver our customers with outstanding service, despite the challenges of the last eighteen months. I can’t wait to work alongside our team as we enter the next stage of our growth trajectory.”