Endsleigh - Motor Insurance
Endsleigh Corporate Information
Company structure, and background with the National Union of Students (NUS).
Endsleigh Insurance Services
Fee and commission income: 1999 - £42.3m
Pre-tax profit:1999 - £4.55m
Major Shareholders:De Goudse N.V.
Main line of business:The group offers all personal lines insurance products through Endsleigh Insurance Services Limited and general insurance broking services through its subsidiary, Endsleigh Insurance (Brokers) Limited.
Number of UK branches:130
History of the company:Originally formed in 1965 by the National Union of Students, Endsleigh has since grown to become one of the largest high street insurance retailers in the UK.
Endsleigh continue to lead the market in the provision of insurance for students but have expanded to become the leading insurer for graduates and young professionals.
Endsleigh's highly-successful, three-year sponsorship deal with the Football League Championships between 1993 and 1996 has had a huge impact on the profile and level of awareness enjoyed by the company, making Endsleigh the household name it is today.
Endsleigh have invested in state-of-the-art technology providing them with all the underwriting and administrative sophistication that delivers the same cost savings and efficiency normally associated with direct insurers. However, Endsleigh's expanding network of retail outlets also provides a professional, friendly and localised service for their customers.
The company currently employs almost 1,000 staff nationally with around 350 based in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, where the companies new £16m purpose built campus style corporate headquarters has been built.
Other divisions are based at the Northern Administration Centre in Burnley together with a large national Call Centre.
In extremely competitive market conditions Endsleigh continues to expand and increase its profits.
Endsleigh's Guide to Buying a Car On-Line
Is buying a car online as easy as some TV ads make out, asks Quentin Winsome
Seen the Vauxhall television ad where a bearded, slightly batty Gryff Rhys Jones manages to buy several Astras over the net quicker than you can say 'sad old comedy has-been'? You get the impression that all you have to do is pick your car, enter your credit card details and voila! a spanking new motor will be delivered to your doorstep.
Unfortunately, it isn't quite that simple. Not at http://buypower.vauxhall.co.uk it isn't. Apart from the tedium of having to register to use the site (a chore devised by some evil internet marketing director somewhere and the bane of my online life), you don't actually end up ever entering your credit card details and pressing the 'buy' button. Oh no. First you have to 'build your car', then select your payment option (i.e. hp, part exchange, etc) and then select your dealer - who then will contact you to complete the deal. No glorious online transaction to report at all. You also don't have the choice of every Vauxhall model to 'buy' in this way either. There's only a limited selection of their top selling brands on offer. The quaintly called astra.com starts at £11,470.
Of course when it comes to buying a car, half the fun is actually in browsing the showrooms, pretending you can afford the sportier models while secretly checking out the price and comfort factor of the family 5-door saloon. And this is where the internet can save you loads of time and shoe leather.
The net is teeming with car sites with plenty of good advice on buying and selling motors and huge databases of cars for sale. You can't go wrong by logging onto www.autotrader.co.uk as a starting point. It gives you a comprehensive guide to buying used and new cars with added extras such as a running cost calculator in its new car section and car comparisons on used models. It also gives you lots of hints and tips, e.g. buying from a dealer is the safest way to buy and auctions the riskiest.
If you're on the look out for a bargain, then autotrader.co.uk's search and find database is a godsend. I found loads of second hand Astras, ranging in price from £2,695 (for a 1994 model) to £5,995 (1997), together with all the sellers' contact details. Offers included private sales and those from dealers.
Another second-hand car site to check out is www.preloved.co.uk which actually has an under £500 section where I found a rather snazzy D-reg Ford Orion in banana yellow with a 6 month MOT going for £400. No Astras though. Pity.
Happy hunting!
Endsleigh House,
Cheltenham,
GL50 3NR
http://www.endsleigh.co.uk
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