The 2026 Bexhill State of UK Insurance Broking Report
Research produced by Hackford for Bexhill UK, examining more than 3,600 FCA-regulated insurance brokers, regional concentration, cost structures, and consolidation trends.
What the report covers
Created for Bexhill UK, this report combines FCA register data, company financials, and ownership analysis to examine more than 3,600 active insurance brokers across the UK.
It describes a market with a substantial footprint but structurally thin margins: reporting firms generated £24.3bn of turnover in the latest available accounts, while operating expenses typically accounted for more than 85% of turnover.
The report also highlights the extent of consolidation in regional broking. London and the South East account for around 40% of firms, and 61% of ranked companies are owned by a parent group that owns at least one other broker.
Dataset
The analysis covers 3,633 active UK insurance brokers, using regulatory, company financial, ownership and address data to describe footprint, costs, regional concentration and consolidation.
Key findings
- The report identifies 3,633 active UK insurance brokers whose primary activity is insurance broking.
- Reporting firms generated £24.3bn of turnover in the latest available accounts.
- Operating expenses typically accounted for more than 85% of turnover among reporting firms.
- London has 948 active insurance brokers, just over 26% of all UK broking firms in the report.
- The South East has 521 active insurance brokers, making London and the South East roughly 40% of the UK broker population in the analysis.
- The East of England is the largest region outside London and the South East, with 414 active insurance brokers.
- Among ranked companies, 61% are owned by a parent group that owns at least one other broker.
- The report states that the sector supports more than 90,000 people, with many more supported indirectly through associated professional services.
Methodology
The report identifies active UK insurance brokers using FCA permissions data, Companies House Standard Industrial Classification codes and publicly available data.
Financial performance metrics are derived from statutory filings submitted to Companies House, using structured XBRL extraction and OCR technology for scanned PDF accounts.
Regional ranking inclusion requires core insurance broking activity and reported turnover above £100,000 in the latest accounts filed since 1 January 2024.
Regional placement is based on head-office location and verified address data from Companies House and FCA records.
Who should read this
- Insurance broking executives and finance teams
- Lenders, investors and advisers analysing UK insurance broker consolidation
- Compliance and data teams mapping FCA-regulated insurance intermediaries
- Researchers covering UK regional insurance distribution
Definitions
- Insurance broker
- A firm involved in arranging, advising on or distributing insurance products, subject to the relevant FCA permissions and activities.
- Parent group
- An ownership group that controls one or more broker businesses in the ranked company analysis.
- Operating expenses
- Business costs reported in company financial accounts and compared with turnover in the report.
- Regional ranking
- A report section ranking operating broking activity by region, with inclusion based on core broking activity, financial threshold, brand treatment and head-office geography.
Report FAQ
What does the Bexhill insurance broking report cover?
It covers active FCA-regulated insurance brokers across the UK, with analysis of regional concentration, cost structure, turnover and ownership patterns.
Where can the PDF be downloaded?
The public Hackford report page links to the PDF download hosted by Bexhill UK.
Download report
Citation: Bexhill UK and Hackford, "The 2026 Bexhill State of UK Insurance Broking Report", 2026.
- The report is an information resource only and is not endorsed by the FCA.
- The views expressed in the report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Bexhill UK Limited.