South Tyneside Pledgee Spends Local

A family-owned commercial insurance broker based at One Trinity Green in South Shields has joined forces with two neighbouring marketing firms, Elite Branding & Sales and Far North, to supercharge its business growth.

All three businesses have signed up to the South Tyneside Pledge.

The Health Insurance Group, which was set up in 1992 and consists of two other commercial insurance brokers based in Birmingham and South Shields, focuses on private medical insurance and offers employee benefits covering income protection, critical illness and employee assistance programmes.

The decision to join forces with telemarketing company Elite Branding and Sales & marketing business Far North has resulted in more business within South Tyneside and the North East region.

Since the three businesses have joined, the conversion rate of new clients has doubled and The Health Insurance Group now sees 10% of clients within a 15-mile radius of South Shields, compared to just 1% before the companies began working together.

This has also resulted in mutual benefits for Elite Branding & Sales, as the firm has recently expanded into bigger office space at One Trinity Green and has recruited two experienced marketing executives as well as looking to recruit a further 5 local employees, works with the entire Health Insurance Group and now operates on a national basis. Far North now handles the marketing and website for the Group.

Kelvin Pritchard, Business Development Manager at The Health Insurance Group, said:

“Since collaborating with Elite and Far North, we have seen dramatic growth across all three businesses and we have certainly achieved our goal by gaining more clients within the area.

“As a family-run business with long-term clients, we are passionate about delivering high-quality customer service. We couldn’t be more pleased with the response after partnering with the two North East firms and we look forward to continuing to provide our services to all our clients across the North East.

“The business has gone through three generations and we hope it will see more as we continue our work with Elite and Far North.

“We get a lot out of South Tyneside and I thought it was about time we gave something back so we signed up to the South Tyneside Pledge. It was a no-brainer.

“We appointed Elite and Far North in 2022 instead of using a national company based in London. We believe it’s important to use local companies and these two businesses have made a huge difference to us. It’s what I call reciprocal trading and it’s been the best thing we have every done.”

Mischa Steele, Project Manager at Far North, said:

“We are proud to work globally to help organisations grow and find new clients, but there’s nothing better than being able to work with likeminded businesses in our building, literally on our doorstep. One of the pillars of the South Tyneside Pledge is to Spend South Tyneside and this is a perfect example of this commitment from local businesses.”

Cllr Margaret Meling, lead member for Economic Growth, Skills and Climate change at South Tyneside Council, said:

“It’s fantastic to see businesses come together and support one another as well as sticking to their roots and helping drive forward growth within the region.

“The Health Insurance Group, Far North and Elite Marketing are all incredible assets to One Trinity Green and we look forward to seeing them succeed as they continue their collaboration.”

Launched in January 2022, the South Tyneside Pledge aims to boost local economic activity, reduce health inequalities, cut carbon emissions and enhance civic pride for the benefit of the whole borough.

For more information about the Health Insurance Group visit: https://thig.co.uk/