125 years making a difference

125 years is a significant milestone for any organisation. However, many companies are a lot older. So it’s not the years that are important, it’s what you’ve achieved during them which really matters.

Ecclesiastical (or the Ecclesiastical Buildings Fire Office as we were founded) was established to protect churches and church buildings from fire in 1887. We’re still doing this today. From these roots we’ve grown to provide tailored insurance for organisations and people who care. We’ve used our skills and experience to provide reassurance and advice to the charity, heritage, care and education sectors. Today we’re a specialist insurance and financial services company providing honest advice, deep expertise and caring protection. We’re also charitably-owned, so a commitment to communities is at our heart. Over the past five years we’ve given over £55m to our charitable owner, that’s 25% of our pre-tax profits. We’re proud of our values, and have stuck by them.

Ecclesiastical has experienced a great deal of change in 125 years. We’ve grown dramatically of course – our assets are now over half a billion. We’ve expanded to protect other faiths, denominations and property owners for example. We’ve worked with brokers to create tailored schemes for specialist groups of customers and bought insurance businesses overseas and brokers in the UK.  

For Ecclesiastical 125 years have been about making a difference. To our customers and communities. We’re proud that we’ve been doing this for over a century, and we’re committed to continuing to make a difference in the years to come.

Our 125th anniversary celebrations

Our 125th anniversary year is a special occasion. It’s a fantastic opportunity to celebrate. We want to make sure we take a good look back at our past, whilst focusing firmly on our future.

We plan to celebrate with our customers, our business partners, our employees and our communities. But our anniversary is also a key opportunity to build our business and underline our purpose.

So the focus of 2012 will be how we make a difference. How we’ve made a difference for 125 years and how we plan to continue to make a difference in the future.

We’ll be giving greater support for our core business focus on charity and the not-for-profit sector. This will include launching a new national charity partnership. We’ll be supporting our people to give their professional and practical support for charities in our local communities through a volunteering programme. We’ll also be increasing the financial support we give to local causes through individual grants and a new fund set up with the Gloucestershire Community Foundation. 

We’ll also be supporting the core specialist areas of our business with a range of activities. A series of broker roadshows will share our plans for the future and opportunities to work together better. A project with the Church of England will highlight our continued support for this key customer. We’ll also enjoy a celebration event with our employees and entertain key customers and business partners at Gloucester Cathedral.

So 2012 is a unique opportunity to celebrate with our customers and business partners, whilst remaining firmly focused on the future.