Ecclesiastical Insurance Group, owner of Ecclesiastical Insurance, which employs an estimated 500 staff at its Gloucestershire headquarters, has announced a change of name.
The firm, which moved into a new multi-million pound purpose-built headquarters on Gloucester Business Park in Brockworth in October 2021, is now called Benefact Group.
Its new name derives from the Latin ‘benefactor’ – meaning ‘to do well by supporting a person or good cause’ – and reflects its ownership by the newly-named Benefact Trust, which was formerly called Allchurches Trust.
Mark Hews, group chief executive at Benefact Group, said: ‘Benefact Group, the fourth largest corporate donor in the UK, is owned by a charity which means all our available profits can be given to good causes. Charitable giving is at the heart of what we do.’
The group supports causes across sectors including education and skills, rural, heritage, arts, faith, climate change, animal and wildlife charities.
Ecclesiastical’s roots go back 130 years, when the insurance firm was founded to protect parish churches from fire. Today, the business is made up of three divisions: insurance; investments; and broker and advisory, with operations in the UK, Ireland, Canada and Australia.
The group includes more than 30 specialist financial businesses including Ecclesiastical Insurance, EdenTree Investment Management, SEIB, Lycetts and Lloyd & White brokers. Each brand name is being retained.
It is the fourth-largest corporate donor to charity in the UK and has ambitious plans to give £250 million to good causes by 2025.
