Howden acquires UK and Ireland’s largest beauty membership providers to take leading positioning in the health, wellbeing and beauty insurance sectors

London, 3 October 2024 – Howden announces that it has acquired Associated Beauty Therapists Ltd (“ABT”) and Associated Irish Therapists Ltd (“AIT”), two beauty membership providers that offer insurance broking services to members operating in the heath, wellbeing and beauty sectors in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

ABT and AIT specialise in arranging the full range of covers, including medical malpractice, treatment risk, professional indemnity, liabilities and asset protection to professionals across the beauty and medical aesthetics industries. 

ABT and AIT will join Howden’s Health & Care division, aligning with its current Allied Healthcare team which already has a strong presence, particularly in the psychological therapy sector. The deal will almost double the number of Howden Health & Care clients, to over 40,000, and will bring the market increased choice, global expertise and access to more products, demonstrating Howden’s significant growth plans across the rapidly expanding Health & Care sector. The UK and Irish beauty market alone is estimated at approximately 400,000 service providers and Howden recognises the importance of having a specialist team to service clients in this sector.

Mark Westgarth, Managing Director, Howden Health & Care, commented: "Howden has a strong reputation across the entire Health & Care spectrum and has been an established insurance provider for Allied Healthcare professionals for over 25 years. 

Our reputation has helped us to continuously grow our division by attracting the market’s top talent, with the experience and expertise to service this important growth sector. Partnering with ABT and AIT further strengthens Howden’s Health & Care division and, with Howden’s successful product offering for psychological therapists and counsellors combined with ABT and AIT’s deep expertise in the beauty industry, our teams are now perfectly positioned to become the broker of choice in both areas.”

David Horton, Founder and Group Managing Director, ABT and AIT, said: “Joining Howden is great news for us and our clients. Like us, Howden has a reputation for outstanding service and expertise. Their global resources will help us to provide more solutions to even more clients. Our cultures are perfectly aligned, making it an exciting move for our colleagues and the clients they are so passionate about serving. I look forward to working with the teams to grow the businesses together.”