Global insurance intermediary Brown & Brown has become the latest Patron of Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry, strengthening its presence in a regional market that is outperforming much of the rest of the UK.
NI Chamber has an active membership of more than 1,000 businesses operating across Northern Ireland in every sector of the economy, collectively employing over 125,000 people. Its patron network includes some of the region's most prominent employers and institutions, among them Belfast Harbour, Queen's University Belfast, PwC, Randox, Ulster Bank, Agnew Leasing, Balcas, Belfast International Airport, Caterpillar, Danske Bank, Galgorm Collection, Legacy Wealth Management, Pinsent Masons, Power NI and Ulster Carpets.
Brown & Brown brings considerable international scale to that network. As of 2024, the firm ranked seventh among the largest insurance brokerages globally by revenue, operating across more than 700 locations with a team of more than 23,000 professionals. Its UK presence has grown substantially following the 2022 acquisition of Global Risk Partners, which positioned it as one of the largest insurance intermediaries in the UK and Ireland. The firm also completed the acquisition of Accession Risk Management Group, parent of Risk Strategies and One80 Intermediaries, for approximately $9.8 billion in 2025, significantly expanding its property and casualty, employee benefits and middle-market broker capabilities. Its UK retail broking operations were unified under a single brand in the first quarter of 2025, rebranding approximately 100 brokers.
Brown & Brown's Northern Ireland footprint has deepened through targeted acquisition across the full value chain - claims management through Davison & Associates (NI), insurance consultancy through Davison Lamont, and broking through Rollins Insurance Brokers, based in Holywood. Together, the three acquisitions reflect a deliberate effort to build end-to-end capability in the region rather than simply establish a presence.
Shauna Graham, area managing director at Brown & Brown UK, said the partnership reflected shared priorities.
"Supporting businesses to grow and manage risk is at the core of what we do at Brown & Brown, and that aligns closely with NI Chamber's focus on helping companies to scale and compete," said Graham. "Becoming a Patron is a natural extension of our membership, and we are proud to support an organisation that is playing such a pivotal role in shaping prosperity across the region."
The patronage reflects a clear commercial logic. Northern Ireland's economic output increased by 2.8% in the second quarter of 2025, outperforming other UK regions, with business services identified as the main driver of growth. The number of VAT and PAYE-registered businesses operating in Northern Ireland reached 82,680 as of March 2026, with all eleven local government districts recording growth over the preceding twelve months.
Northern Ireland also outperformed all other UK regions in sustained growth of exports to the EU in 2025, with dual market access under the Windsor Framework providing a competitive advantage for local firms over counterparts in Great Britain and the European Union. For an international broker with cross-border capabilities across the UK and Ireland, that dynamic is directly relevant to client risk management and insurance structuring.
The move also arrives during a period of sustained consolidation across UK insurance distribution. Aggregate revenue across the top ten UK brokers for 2025 reached just over £13 billion, a figure that would have represented the entire top fifty brokers list as recently as 2023. Overseas interest in UK insurance distribution remains strong, with fifteen unique overseas buyers active in the UK market in 2025, four of which were acquiring in the UK for the first time.
NI Chamber has also been building its own international reach, formalising a transatlantic partnership with North Carolina Chamber focused on promoting trade, investment and co-operation across aerospace, life science, advanced manufacturing and financial services. For a broker operating across those sectors on both sides of the Atlantic, the alignment carries genuine commercial weight.
