Peter Wood (businessman)
Encyclopedia
Peter Wood, CBE
(born Surrey
, c.
1946) is an English
entrepreneur, most notable as the founder of the Direct Line
and Esure
insurance
companies. He is the 438th wealthiest person in Britain
with a personal fortune of £120 million, according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2009
, and his repeated successes in the past twenty years have accorded him a "legendary" reputation within the insurance industry.
His ascendency began with Direct Line
, the first telephone-only insurance company in the UK when it was launched in 1985 by Wood and Martin Long. The venture was underwritten by the Royal Bank of Scotland
, and was so successful that within nine years it had grown from nothing to become the biggest insurer of private vehicles in the country, claiming three times as many customers as the Royal Bank itself. Wood did not have a capital stake in Direct Line, having sold it to the Royal Bank in 1988 in return for a generous performance-related remuneration
. It proved to be a prescient deal, as the company's rapid rise led to his becoming Britain's highest paid company director, receiving £1.6 million in 1991, £6 million in 1992, and £18.2 million in 1993. The subsequent attention and notoriety his pay attracted—Labour Party
MP and then-shadow Trade Secretary Robin Cook
called his bonus "obscene"—was a source of embarrassment both to Wood himself and the Royal Bank, who attempted to buy their way out of their contractual obligations with a one-off £24 million payment in 1994, taking his total income that year to £42 million. Wood himself claims that he personally requested an end to the deal, after receiving a letter bomb at the Direct Line offices which injured a member of staff. Nevertheless, Wood remained richly rewarded, receiving another £17 million in 1995 and remaining a byword for the perceived excesses of corporate boardrooms in the 1990s, according to critics.
He left Direct Line in 1997 in a parting that was not entirely amicable, but continued to work with the Royal Bank in other areas, including Privilege
, an insurance company specializing in higher-risk customers which had been created in 1996.
In 1999 Wood established Esure
, this time in partnership with rival bank Halifax, who provided £150 million of startup capital. Esure used the same business model as Direct Line and targeted the same customer base, establishing a foothold in the market before following with a subsidiary (First Alternative) in 2003 for drivers of higher premium vehicles. Even their advertising and marketing were similar, to the point where Direct Line challenged Esure's "Mr Mouse" character to be an infringement of their own iconic red telephone on wheels, and they successfully took Wood's new venture to court to prevent it being trademarked. A women-only specialist insurance brand, Sheilas' Wheels
, was established by Wood and Esure in October 2005.
He currently serves as the chairman of Esure, having purchased the 70% stake Lloyds Banking Group
held in the company on 11 February 2010.
Wood also set up up two insurance companies in the United States
, Response (1995) and Homesite (1997), although his involvement both of with them came to an end in 2004.
CBE
CBE and C.B.E. are abbreviations for "Commander of the Order of the British Empire", a grade in the Order of the British Empire.Other uses include:* Chemical and Biochemical Engineering...
(born Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, c.
Circa
Circa , usually abbreviated c. or ca. , means "approximately" in the English language, usually referring to a date...
1946) is an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
entrepreneur, most notable as the founder of the Direct Line
Direct Line
Direct Line is part of the RBS Insurance division of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group that specialises in selling insurance and other financial services over the phone and internet....
and Esure
Esure
Esure is an internet and telephone based insurance company based in Reigate, Surrey, England. It also has offices in Manchester and Glasgow...
insurance
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
companies. He is the 438th wealthiest person in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
with a personal fortune of £120 million, according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2009
Sunday Times Rich List 2009
The Sunday Times Rich List 2009 was published on 26 April 2009.Since 1989 the UK national Sunday newspaper The Sunday Times has published an annual magazine supplement to the newspaper called the Sunday Times Rich List...
, and his repeated successes in the past twenty years have accorded him a "legendary" reputation within the insurance industry.
His ascendency began with Direct Line
Direct Line
Direct Line is part of the RBS Insurance division of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group that specialises in selling insurance and other financial services over the phone and internet....
, the first telephone-only insurance company in the UK when it was launched in 1985 by Wood and Martin Long. The venture was underwritten by the Royal Bank of Scotland
Royal Bank of Scotland
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is a British banking and insurance holding company in which the UK Government holds an 84% stake. This stake is held and managed through UK Financial Investments Limited, whose voting rights are limited to 75% in order for the bank to retain its listing on the...
, and was so successful that within nine years it had grown from nothing to become the biggest insurer of private vehicles in the country, claiming three times as many customers as the Royal Bank itself. Wood did not have a capital stake in Direct Line, having sold it to the Royal Bank in 1988 in return for a generous performance-related remuneration
Remuneration
Remuneration is the total compensation that an employee receives in exchange for the service they perform for their employer. Typically, this consists of monetary rewards, also referred to as wage or salary...
. It proved to be a prescient deal, as the company's rapid rise led to his becoming Britain's highest paid company director, receiving £1.6 million in 1991, £6 million in 1992, and £18.2 million in 1993. The subsequent attention and notoriety his pay attracted—Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
MP and then-shadow Trade Secretary Robin Cook
Robin Cook
Robert Finlayson Cook was a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Livingston from 1983 until his death, and notably served in the Cabinet as Foreign Secretary from 1997 to 2001....
called his bonus "obscene"—was a source of embarrassment both to Wood himself and the Royal Bank, who attempted to buy their way out of their contractual obligations with a one-off £24 million payment in 1994, taking his total income that year to £42 million. Wood himself claims that he personally requested an end to the deal, after receiving a letter bomb at the Direct Line offices which injured a member of staff. Nevertheless, Wood remained richly rewarded, receiving another £17 million in 1995 and remaining a byword for the perceived excesses of corporate boardrooms in the 1990s, according to critics.
He left Direct Line in 1997 in a parting that was not entirely amicable, but continued to work with the Royal Bank in other areas, including Privilege
Privilege (insurance company)
Privilege is a division of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group that specialises in selling insurance over the phone and internet. The company's slogan is You don't have to be posh to be Privileged....
, an insurance company specializing in higher-risk customers which had been created in 1996.
In 1999 Wood established Esure
Esure
Esure is an internet and telephone based insurance company based in Reigate, Surrey, England. It also has offices in Manchester and Glasgow...
, this time in partnership with rival bank Halifax, who provided £150 million of startup capital. Esure used the same business model as Direct Line and targeted the same customer base, establishing a foothold in the market before following with a subsidiary (First Alternative) in 2003 for drivers of higher premium vehicles. Even their advertising and marketing were similar, to the point where Direct Line challenged Esure's "Mr Mouse" character to be an infringement of their own iconic red telephone on wheels, and they successfully took Wood's new venture to court to prevent it being trademarked. A women-only specialist insurance brand, Sheilas' Wheels
Sheilas' Wheels
Sheilas' Wheels is a UK car insurance brand that targets its insurance products to women, although it also sells to men. The brand was launched in October 2005 by Peter Wood, and is part of Esure, the insurance group he founded with HBOS in 1999...
, was established by Wood and Esure in October 2005.
He currently serves as the chairman of Esure, having purchased the 70% stake Lloyds Banking Group
Lloyds Banking Group
Lloyds Banking Group plc is a major British financial institution, formed through the acquisition of HBOS by Lloyds TSB in 2009. As at February 2010, HM Treasury held a 41% shareholding through UK Financial Investments Limited . The Group headquarters is located at 25 Gresham Street in London, with...
held in the company on 11 February 2010.
Wood also set up up two insurance companies in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Response (1995) and Homesite (1997), although his involvement both of with them came to an end in 2004.