Personal Group Holdings posted record first-half insurance sales for the six months ended June 30, with annualised premium income reaching £42.4 million, up 12% from £38 million at the same point in 2025. The figure is worth contextualising against the market it is growing within. Swiss Re's Group Watch 2026 report found the broader UK group risk market grew 3.5% to approximately 16.2 million lives covered. Personal Group's API grew at more than three times that rate - in a segment where more than 90% of in-force policies cover fewer than 250 staff and where the underlying penetration gap remains substantial. ABI and Broadstone data found 6.5 million people covered by health insurance in 2024, up 4% year-on-year, with 4.8 million through workplace policies - against approximately 32 million in UK employment. Workplace health cover is at record levels from a structurally low base, which is the specific market condition that makes Personal Group's face-to-face distribution model commercially well-positioned rather than simply executing well in a rising market.
Insurance revenue rose 11% to £19.4 million from £17.4 million in H1 2025. New business written came to £8.1 million API, 9% above the £7.4 million in H1 2025. Customer retention held above 80% year-on-year and claims levels remained consistent with prior periods - the retention figure being the most specific indicator of underwriting quality in a hospital, recovery and death benefit book sold face-to-face to employees through workplace partnerships.
The most commercially significant new development is a strategic partnership with Simply Health, signed in the previous quarter, which produced insurance leads in the first half. Personal Group said early results supported its view of the opportunity and added to the insurance pipeline. The partnership is complementary rather than competitive: Simply Health is a health cash plan provider, and the combination of cash plan distribution with Personal Group's hospital and recovery benefit products covers adjacent but distinct employee needs. A health cash plan provider generating leads for a hospital and recovery benefit insurer creates a referral dynamic where each product's existing customer base is a natural prospect for the other - a distribution efficiency that the face-to-face model alone cannot replicate at the same cost.
The strong insurance result prompted Personal Group to expand its field team. Face-to-face field days increased in the period and average premium per customer also rose, the latter suggesting the expansion is generating quality rather than simply volume.
Group revenue rose 10% to £25.7 million from £23.3 million in H1 2025, with more than 90% from recurring sources. Adjusted EBITDA increased 22% to £6.7 million against £5.5 million in H1 2025. Benefits and reward revenue, covering the Hapi employee benefits platform and the Sage Employee Benefits partnership for SMEs, rose 9% to £5.7 million. Hapi recorded 11% year-on-year client growth. Annual recurring revenue from the benefits platform reached £7.1 million, up 2%. The SEB partnership produced lead generation below expectations in Q1 before recovering in Q2.
The pay and reward division, trading as Innecto, secured contracts with Deliveroo, Newcastle United F.C., the Rugby Football Union, Vertis and Secure Trust Bank during the period. The group held a cash position of £29.4 million, up from £29 million at December 31, 2025, with no debt.
Personal Group's chief executive Paula Constant said the team had delivered another record period for insurance sales, underpinned by strong retention rates and new business wins, with execution strong across the business. The board reaffirmed confidence that full-year trading was in line with market expectations - full-year revenue of £54.4 million and adjusted EBITDA of £14.1 million for the year ending December 31.
