type public traded as lse esur industry insurance founded 2000 headquarters reigate surrey key people peter wood chairman stuart vann ceo revenue 654.1 million 2015 1 operating income 134.0 million 2015 1 net income 121.9 million 2015 1 website www.esuregroup.com esure is an internet and telephone based insurance company based in reigate surrey england . it also has offices in manchester and glasgow . the company is listed on the london stock exchange and is a constituent of the ftse 250 index . contents 1 history 2 operations 3 criticism and concerns 4 references 5 external links history edit esure was founded in 2000 by businessman peter wood who also launched the direct line insurance company for the royal bank of scotland . in 2005 peter wood also launched the highly successful insurance brand sheilas wheels . the brand is characterised by its three pink sequin clad sheilas who starred in a series of adverts made for the brand alongside a pink sheilamobile . the brand become one of the fastest selling insurance brands in the uk . sheilas wheels focuses on women drivers but has offered cover to men too from its launch . the product includes benefits such as enhanced bag cover . 2 esure is also known for its high profile commercials with michael winner used from 2002 to 2005 and resuming in 2007 . the adverts spawned the phrase calm down dear it s a commercial . 3 winner was temporarily replaced by mr. mouse a blue animated mouse character with an american accent . mr. mouse was designed by sian vickers and chris wilkins who came out of retirement at the request of peter wood the founder of esure . the pair were responsible for the smash martians as well as the four wheeled red telephone used by direct line in their publicity . mr. mouse s catchphrases include insurance at mices prices and go on give us a click . mr mouse was voiced by the actor and arts critic kerry shale . 4 on 21 november 2007 it was announced that esure would replace e.on as the sponsor of itv national weather bulletins . the two year deal rumoured to be worth 10 million was negotiated by carat sponsorship and began on 1 january 2008 . 5 lloyds banking group sold its 70 % stake in esure to esure group holdings led by peter wood on 11 february 2010 . the share was valued at around 185 million . 6 the company was listed on the london stock exchange in march 2013 . 7 on the 8 december 2014 esure announced that it was acquiring the remaining 50 % of shares in financial comparison website gocompare.com having previously secured a non controlling stake in the company . 8 9 operations edit esure is now one of the largest providers of motor insurance in the uk citation needed and also offers home and travel insurance . the company focuses on lower risk customers offering cheaper premiums for customers with a current no claims bonus for its car insurance products . esure car insurance also incorporates the first alternative brand which in the past offered quotes to higher risk customers as a separately authorised insurer but now sits as a small scale sub brand of esure . criticism and concerns edit concerns were raised in 2013 about potential conflict of interest . esure s peter wood donated tens of thousands to the conservatives and esure s initial public offering ipo of february 2013 highlighted that insurance company friendly legislation of 2012 offered esure expansion potential . quite evidently esure itself thought it was benefitting from the changes under new laws as did peter wood personally who made some 198 million from the flotation ; about a third of his shares . 10 in october 2014 esure faced criticism after it declined an insurance claim and offered only a goodwill payment of 5 000 on behalf of a policy holder whose abusive husband had set fire to her home . the husband pleaded guilty to effectively torturing his wife with an axe over a period of three days and the non payment of the policy left the victim homeless . in a statement esure said they had utmost sympathy for the horrific incident but added that insurance was there to cover unexpected events and accidents not deliberate and unlawful acts by individuals destroying their property . 11 concerns were raised in 2014 about potential conflicts of interest when insurance companies own insurance comparison sites . financial conduct authority fca regulations says such potential conflicts of interest must be flagged up . a fca report said small print on the gocompare.com website informs customers that it is 50 % owned by esure esure owned 100 % of gocompare as of december 2014 . however the fca found no evidence that such firms had profited as a result of their potentially conflicting ownership . 12 references edit a b c annual results 2015 pdf . esure . retrieved 3 april 2016 . sheila s wheels sees european gender ruling as an opportunity . marketing week . 22 february 2011 . retrieved 29 june 2013 . wilson giles ad breakdown calm down dear . it s just a mouse that s got your job news.bbc.co.uk . article written 26 may 2006 retrieved 2 november 2006 . kerry shale . retrieved 29 june 2013 . esure becomes new itv weather sponsor . digital spy . november 21 2007 . retrieved 2007 11 21 . lloyds sells 70 % stake in esure bbc news online . 11 february 2010 esure shares leap after its float to boost london ipos . the independent . 22 march 2013 . retrieved 29 june 2013 . insurer esure buys rest of gocompare for 95m . ft. 8 december 2014 . retrieved 12 january 2015 . esure group s announcement to the city pdf . esuregroup . 8 december 2014 . retrieved 12 january 2015 . bobby friedman 5 sep 2013 . democracy ltd . google books . abused wife facing destitution after husband burned home . bbc news . 27 october 2014 . retrieved 28 october 2014 . insurance price comparison sites failing says fca . bbc news . 16 july 2014 . retrieved 18 march 2015 . external links edit esure.com esure group plc v t e ftse 100 ftse 250 companies of the united kingdom 3i infrastructure aa aberdeen asset management aberforth smaller companies trust acacia mining aggreko aldermore group alliance trust allied minds amec foster wheeler ao world ascential ashmore group assura atkins auto trader group aveva balfour beatty bankers investment trust barr a.g. bba aviation beazley group bellway berendsen berkeley group holdings bank of georgia bh macro big yellow group b & m european retail value bodycote booker group bovis homes group brewin dolphin holdings british empire trust britvic brown n. btg plc cairn energy caledonia investments capital & counties properties card factory carillion centamin cineworld city of london investment trust clarkson close brothers group cls holdings cmc markets cobham computacenter countryside properties countrywide cranswick crest nicholson cybg daejan holdings dairy crest debenhams dechra pharmaceuticals derwent london dfs dignity diploma domino s pizza drax group dunelm group edinburgh investment trust electra private equity electrocomponents elementis entertainment one essentra esure euromoney institutional investor evraz f & c commercial property trust fidelity china special situations fidelity european values fidessa group finsbury growth & income trust firstgroup fisher james & sons foreign & colonial investment trust g4s galliford try gcp infrastructure investments genesis emerging markets fund genus go ahead group grafton group grainger great portland estates greencoat uk wind greencore greene king greggs gvc holdings halfords group halma hansteen holdings harbourvest global private equity hastings group hays henderson group hicl infrastructure company hill & smith hiscox hochschild mining homeserve howdens joinery hunting ibstock icap ig group holdings imi inchcape indivior inmarsat intermediate capital group international personal finance international public partnerships investec ip group jardine lloyd thompson jd sports john laing group john laing infrastructure fund jpmorgan american investment trust jpmorgan emerging markets investment trust jpmorgan indian investment trust jrp group jupiter fund management just eat kaz minerals keller kennedy wilson europe real estate kier group ladbrokes laird lancashire holdings londonmetric property man group marshalls marston s mccarthy & stone meggitt mercantile investment trust metro bank millennium & copthorne hotels mitchells & butlers mitie moneysupermarket.com group monks investment trust morgan advanced materials murray international trust national express group nb global ncc nmc health ocado group onesavings bank p2p global investments pagegroup paragon group of companies paypoint paysafe pennon group perpetual income & growth investment trust personal assets trust petrofac pets at home phoenix group holdings playtech polar capital technology trust polypipe premier farnell pz cussons qinetiq rank group rathbone brothers redefine international redrow regus group renewables infrastructure group renishaw rentokil initial restaurant group rightmove rit capital partners riverstone energy rotork rpc group safestore saga savills scottish investment trust scottish mortgage investment trust segro senior serco shaftesbury shawbrook bank sig plc smith ds smurfit kappa group softcat sophos spectris spirax sarco engineering spire healthcare sports direct ssp group stagecoach group st. modwen properties supergroup svg capital synthomer talktalk group tate & lyle ted baker telecom plus temple bar investment trust templeton emerging markets investment trust thomas cook group tritax big box reit tr property investment trust tullett prebon tullow oil ubm udg healthcare uk commercial property trust ultra electronics holdings unite group vectura group vedanta resources vesuvius victrex virgin money weir group wetherspoon j d w h smith william hill witan investment trust wizz air woodford patient capital trust wood group workspace group worldwide healthcare trust zoopla retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title esure 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