Autonet Insurance Origins and Founders
The Staffordshire broker first began writing business in 1999 based in Newcastle-under-Lyme. Founders Glynn Keeling and Ian Donaldson, both local to the area, set up the award winning organisation to provide insurance solutions and advice for customers nationwide across a whole host of industry products.
Early Growth and First Milestones
By the millennium, Autonet hit their first financial milestone achieving an impressive £1million turnover indicating early signs of positive business growth and structure. In 2004, due to striking staffing levels, the decision was made to relocate to a larger headquarters 20 minutes away in Burslem, equipped to house more staff and better facilities.
Ian Donaldson
Expanding Workforce and Online Sales
Three years later, Autonet had successfully grown to a 200 person strong workforce and also secured their first online internet business policy from an external aggregator. At this point Autonet had made their mark on the insurance industry as well as creating jobs for people in Stoke-on-Trent and the surrounding areas.
Major Achievements and Industry Recognition
The organisation quickly obtained over 100,000 live van policies in 2010, relocated for a second time to a larger call centre located in Burslem, and also won the highly accredited Insurance Times Personal Lines Broker of the Year Award. In addition, the firm also launched their own aggregator site for van insurance providing further insurance assistance to their customers.
Modern Successes and Award Wins
Moving forward, Autonet now employ over 700 staff and have won various awards over the last year including ‘UK National Contact Centre Awards’ and ‘The Sentinel Business’ Awards. The organisation itself has continued to grow with over 225,000 live insurance policies and also opened up their own training academy to aid the training of new starters and develop existing employee skill sets.
Managing Director Ian Donaldson said: “It is fantastic to reach 15 years of business and our size and position within the insurance market is testament to the hard work and commitment of our employees. We have excelled in every area of the business which is reflected in our sales figures to date and in 2013 we opened the Autonet Training Academy.
“We will continue to make Autonet a desired place of work for local people as well as being a successful organisation providing insurance solutions for consumers throughout the UK. I don’t have any doubt that we can continue to build on this success and reach greater heights in 2014.”
