Sun Alliance (company)
Sun Alliance Group plc was a large insurance business based in London. It merged with Royal Insurance in 1996 to form the Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group.
1 Bartholomew Lane in London (the stone building straight ahead) | |
Public | |
Industry | Insurance |
Fate | Merged with Royal Insurance |
Successor | RSA Insurance Group |
Founded | 1710 |
Defunct | 1996 |
Headquarters | London |
History
The company had its origins in Sun Fire Office, the oldest documented insurance company in the world, which was founded in London in 1710.[1]
Sun Insurance merged with Alliance Assurance, a business which had been founded by Nathan Mayer Rothschild and Moses Montefiore in 1824, to form Sun Alliance Insurance in 1959.[2]
In the mid-1960s the newly-merged company established its administrative centre in a large office block in Horsham[3][4] and its head office at 1 Bartholomew Lane in London.[5]
Sun Alliance went on to acquire London Assurance in 1965 (becoming Sun Alliance & London)[6] and Phoenix Assurance in 1984.[6]
After changing its name to Sun Alliance Group in 1989, the company consolidated its operations at a new development, known as St Mark's Court, in Horsham in 1990,[7] while retaining its head office in London.[8]
The company merged with Royal Insurance to form the Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group in 1996.[9]
- Sun Alliance offices in Horsham
- A Sun Fire Office insurance mark
References
- "The World's First Insurance Company". International Risk Management Institute, Inc. (IRMI). Retrieved 1 March 2018.
- "Records of Sun Fire Office". National Archives. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
- Baggs, A P; Currie, C R J; Elrington, C R; Keeling, S M; Rowland, A M (1986). "'Horsham: General history of the town', in A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 6 Part 2, Bramber Rape (North-Western Part) Including Horsham". London: British History Online. pp. 131–156. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
- "Horsham: Historic Character Assessment Report" (PDF). Sussex Extensive Urban Survey. 1 October 2004. p. 19. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
- "No. 44336". The London Gazette. 6 June 1967. p. 6378.
- Trebilcock, Clive (1999). Phoenix Assurance and the Development of British Insurance: Volume 2, The Era of the Insurance Giants 1870–1984. Cambridge University Press. p. 1021. ISBN 978-0521254151.
- "Bridges Memorial Spire". Public Sculptures of Sussex. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
- Forsyth, J. (1991). "Major Companies of Europe 1991/92: Volume 2 Major Companies of the United Kingdom". Springer Netherlands. ISBN 978-94-011-3018-9.
- "RSA chief uncans insurance giant's mega IT infrastructure review". The Register. 10 August 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2020.