Clear Group has acquired Newman Pearce & Partners LLP, a specialist Lloyd's wholesale broker, in a deal aimed at strengthening its London Market presence and accelerating its wholesale growth strategy.
Founded in 2019 by Gordon Newman, Neil Pearce and Colin Rogers, NPP provides specialist broking services to retail brokers and coverholders seeking access to the Lloyd's market, with established expertise across global specialty, international liability, construction, offshore marine liability and specialist property.
Headquartered in London, NPP employs 24 people and has built a highly international book, with around 95% of its portfolio originating overseas, concentrated in Canada, Australia and the US, alongside distribution relationships across Turkey, Africa and India.
NPP's financials show clear momentum heading into the deal. Revenue grew from around £5 million in the 2025 financial year to around £7 million in 2026, while gross written premium rose from approximately £70 million to £120 million over the same period.
Clear said this growth reflects NPP's strong market reputation, referral relationships and the expansion of its specialist capabilities through targeted hiring. NPP has also grown its own international footprint through Silverstar Insurance Intermediaries, a Canadian managing general agent that began underwriting in September 2025, specialising in general and professional liability for the natural resources sector.
This is not Clear's first move into Lloyd's wholesale broking. The group entered the space in October 2024 with its acquisition of Lilley Plummer Risks, a marine and property specialist that added around £150 million in gross written premium and gave Clear its initial Lloyd's presence, in what Clear's chief executive described at the time as a transformational deal for the business.
NPP's specialisms are positioned as complementary to Lilley Plummer's existing portfolio rather than overlapping with it, extending Clear's reach into Canada and Australia specifically, territories where Lilley Plummer did not have an established presence.
Mike Edgeley (pictured), group chief executive of Clear Group, said the London wholesale market is a key strategic growth area for Clear, calling NPP an outstanding addition with an excellent reputation, an impressive international client base and a highly respected team with deep specialist expertise. He said NPP's capabilities are highly complementary to Clear's existing wholesale business and welcomed Newman, Pearce, Rogers and the wider team to the group.
Neil Pearce, chief executive and co-founder of NPP, said the business has focused since 2019 on building a specialist Lloyd's wholesale broker with strong technical expertise and international reach, and that joining Clear gives the team access to additional resources while preserving the entrepreneurial culture that underpinned its success.
Dan Plummer, managing director of Lilley Plummer Risks, said NPP's complementary specialism and international reach will open new opportunities for both businesses and for the brokers and coverholders they serve.
The NPP deal was announced the same day Clear Group agreed to acquire C.R. Toogood & Co., a UK wholesale broker, with Edgeley describing that acquisition as reinforcing Clear's strategy of investing in specialist businesses with strong cultural alignment, having known the Toogood team for more than 15 years.
Announcing two separate wholesale-facing acquisitions in a single day underlines how central broadening Clear's specialist and international broking capability has become to the group's overall growth strategy, rather than either deal being an isolated, opportunistic purchase.
Clear's approach across both its Lloyd's wholesale acquisitions to date has been explicitly to avoid overlap: Lilley Plummer's marine and property heritage, NPP's international liability, construction and specialist property book, and now Toogood's separate wholesale specialism are each being positioned as additive rather than duplicative.
For retail brokers and coverholders working with Clear's wholesale pillar, that strategy should translate into a genuinely broader menu of Lloyd's access points under one group, provided the group can integrate businesses with distinct specialisms and international footprints without diluting the entrepreneurial culture each has been built on, the same concern Pearce raised directly in his own comments on the deal.
