Newcastle based marine insurer becomes "one of the world’s largest" via merger

Global shipping and marine insurer, North P&I, has merged with fellow mutual Standard Club to become NorthStandard.

The merger, which became effective on Monday February 20, creates one of the world’s largest providers of mutual maritime cover with a premium income of around £661.5m and over 390 million gross tonnes (GT) of owned and chartered tonnage on its books.

With joint headquarters in Newcastle and London, and offices throughout Europe, Asia and the Americas, NorthStandard employs more than 700 people and brings together over 300 years of P&I heritage.

The new group will be led by managing directors Jeremy Grose and Paul Jennings, previously CEOs of the Standard Club and North P&I respectively. Jeremy Grose commented: “Eleven months on from our first public announcement, the successful launch of NorthStandard creates a fresh and distinctive force in marine insurance.

“Building on scale, comprehensive services and the depth of our talent pool, NorthStandard provides the resilience members need from their P&I partner to meet the shipping world’s challenges and opportunities. We are fully prepared to deliver even better service, support and cover than ever.”

Ratings agency S&P Global has confirmed that NorthStandard, formed from the merger of two A-rated clubs, has been given an enhanced ‘A’ rating with stable outlook based on its competitive position, financial strength, ‘AAA’ capital adequacy and sound balance-sheet risk management.

Jeremy continued: “This improved rating assessment from S&P confirms that NorthStandard has the financial resilience and certainty members need from their P&I partner in 2023 and beyond.”

NorthStandard has also confirmed the leadership line-up for the new organisation.

Paul Jennings added: “This is a truly exciting moment for service-led P&I as we launch NorthStandard and announce the leadership team entrusted with ensuring that members worldwide experience greater value, certainty, choice, responsiveness and easier access to unrivalled expertise.

“NorthStandard will also be the P&I mutual of choice as an employer because its unique blend of service scope, influence, flexibility and innovation will co-exist with the family ethos and culture on which both North and Standard Club built their reputations.”

By Matthew Neville – Senior Correspondent, Bdaily

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