Phill Thomas spent more than three decades building Hinckley Insurance Services into a trusted name in Leicestershire. The decision to sell was not an exit - it was, in his own words, the right next step. Thomas will remain with the business on a consultancy basis as Needham Insurance Services, part of The Broker Investment Group (TBIG), takes ownership and begins integrating the £1.2 million gross written premium book into its wider platform.
The acquisition also marks the first completed deal for Neal Lowe, TBIG's newly appointed M&A director - a milestone noted publicly by Dave Clapp (pictured), TBIG's deputy chairman, in the announcement.
Hinckley Insurance Services has served clients in Leicestershire and the surrounding area for more than 30 years, building its reputation on personal service to both individual and commercial customers. Under the new ownership, that will not change in the ways that matter most to clients. The business will continue to operate from its existing Hinckley office, with the current team of four experienced insurance professionals remaining in place. Thomas's consultancy role is designed specifically to support a smooth transition and ensure continuity of service during the integration process.
What does change is the range of what Hinckley can offer. As part of Needham Insurance Services and the wider TBIG group, the business will gain access to a broader insurer panel, an enhanced product range, and additional operational support - resources that community-based independents typically cannot access on their own.
Clapp said the deal reflected TBIG's consistent approach to regional acquisitions, and took the opportunity to mark a milestone for the team behind it.
"I am delighted to welcome Hinckley Insurance Services into Needham Insurance Services and, in turn, into the wider The Broker Investment Group family," he said. "Hinckley has built an excellent reputation over many years through its commitment to clients and the local community. This acquisition reflects our ongoing strategy of supporting strong community-focused insurance brokers while giving them access to the scale, resources and insurer relationships of a larger group.
"I would also like to congratulate Neal Lowe on completing his first acquisition in his new role as M&A director for The Broker Investment Group."
Thomas said he was satisfied with where the business was headed.
"Now is the right time for Hinckley Insurance Services to take the next step in its journey," he said. "Becoming part of Needham Insurance Services and the wider TBIG group will allow us to offer our clients an even broader range of products and insurer options, while maintaining the high levels of personal service and local expertise that have always been at the heart of our business.
"I am excited about the future and look forward to continuing to support our clients as part of The Broker Investment Group."
The Hinckley acquisition is a clear illustration of where UK insurance broker M&A currently sits. After deal volumes reached record levels in 2023 and 2024, activity moderated sharply in 2025: 99 deals were announced across the full year, with aggregate deal value just over £2 billion - the lowest total since 2016 and roughly half the three-year average, according to MarshBerry. Approximately two-thirds of those 2025 deals sat below the £5 million mark, the highest proportion in five years.
The picture so far in 2026 is similarly cautious. There were 13 M&A transactions announced in the UK insurance distribution sector in the first two months of the year - ahead of the equivalent 2025 period but well below the run rate that would return annual volumes to the 150-plus deals seen in 2023 and 2024, according to MarshBerry's March 2026 analysis.
What is consistent across both years is where activity is concentrated: at the smaller end. Mid-sized independents have largely been absorbed through earlier consolidation waves, leaving regional and community-based brokers - businesses of exactly the Hinckley Insurance Services type - as the primary available targets. Private equity-backed consolidators and domestically held groups like TBIG continue to compete for this pool, with overseas buyers also remaining active: 15 unique overseas acquirers purchased UK businesses in 2025, four of them entering the UK market for the first time, according to MarshBerry.
For the communities those businesses serve - and for the clients who have relied on brokers like Thomas for decades - who owns the business matters less than whether the service survives the transition. On that question, TBIG's approach of retaining staff, preserving the local office, and keeping the founder involved offers a clearer answer than most.
