We’re giving the First Central Insurance and Technology Group brand a clean new look in line with our retail brand. A heads up for you: the evolutionary approach we’re taking means things may appear disjointed for a while. In other words, the old look us will be visible alongside our shiny new identity for a little while. Let us explain…
When we thought about giving our brand a makeover, data obsessed as we are we had insight into the most effective option for speed, low risk and the ability to adjust and react to developments: to refresh our retail brand as a first step. So, that’s what we did in 2023. Agility’s one of the core values we live by and we know all about flexing, adapting and pivoting for success in today’s 24/7, fast-paced world. It’s how we roll. We try things out, learn and adapt. We knew it would take time, but the results would be worth it.
The exciting, new 1st Central retail brand we introduced summed up perfectly our primary focus for customers: to offer great products and a rewarding experience at a fair price. In other words, ‘Great Value. It’s Central.’ We wanted to create something distinctive, simple and authentic. To develop an outstanding brand people could trust. To emphasise the real relationship we have with our customers, we needed a vibrant visual identity that’d show them they’re front and centre of everything we do. And, the 110,000 5* Trustpilot reviews and overall score of 4.5 / 5 we’ve been awarded tell us we’re on the right track. Here’s what some of our customers have to say:
“Some insurers mask things with complicated jargon but here I know what’s being offered. Really easy to understand and the brand comes across as warm and compassionate.”
“The messaging is succinct, straightforward and simple.”
Positive, effortless, supportive; it was a success. We’re now building on this initial rollout’s impact and adopting a more unified brand approach; our Group brand will align with the retail brand over the next 12 to 18 months. We’ll be 1st Central, plain and simple.
It was back in 2008 that First Central Insurance and Technology Group set up shop and what a long way we’ve come since then. From small beginnings we’ve evolved and grown so quickly and successfully the 530,000 customers we looked after only six years ago now number 1.45 million. That’s some journey. We’ve witnessed exciting changes of all sorts along the way, seeing the careers of our exceptional colleagues develop (there are now 2,000 of them) and branching out not only geographically with more offices but into new insurance markets too. We launched our Home product in 2024.
Having achieved such innovative developments, we knew the time was right to have a good look at our Group brand. We’ve progressed so far, did ‘First Central Insurance and Technology Group’ still reflect how we want to show up in the world? Was its message clear for everyone, including colleagues? Another consideration was that the various entities that make up our company were arranged in a structure people found complicated, customers and colleagues alike. The framework and the way we talked about each of our businesses was anything but clear-cut. That’s why we’re changing things up. The one brand mission will underline that many of the same values the retail brand represents apply to our colleague experience in the same way. We’re an insurance company with a difference. We’re supportive. We want people to feel recognised and rewarded. Our people have scored us 4.6 on Glassdoor, one of the UK’s highest rated employers. And, our colleague turnover in 2024 was 27% lower than the insurance industry benchmark which confirms we’re doing something right.
Bear with us. This isn't a big bang moment. The agile approach to the brand transition we're taking means we can test, learn and change things around as we go. We know an evolutionary roll out is the right one for us. We’re on an exciting mission to unify our retail and Group brand values and we’ve only just started.
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