The Times - UK (2020-06-29)

the times | Monday June 29 2020 1GM 37

Business

Andrew Crook’s fish and chip shop

in the Lancashire town of Chorley

is cod. “People want cod and had-

dock,” he said. “I’ve put sea bass on

the menu and all sorts, but it’s very

difficult to sell everything else.”

This high level of demand makes

the UK’s engagement with coun-

tries like Norway vital. Odd Emil

Ingebrigtsen, the Norwegian min-

ister of fisheries, told The Times

that both sides were in “regular dis-

cussions” and early talks had been

positive.

“I think the talks are proceeding

very well, and I am optimistic that

we soon will have a framework ar-

rangement in place,” he said.

Britain’s environment depart-

ment has reported “constructive”

The insurance brokerage created
out of the wreckage of Towergate
has bought three businesses and
has executed a refinancing that
values the company at £1.6 billion.
Ardonagh, whose brands
include Swinton, Carole Nash and
Autonet, has also raised £300 mil-
lion for further acquisitions.
The privately owned company is
buying Arachas, an Irish broker-

age, and Bravo, owner of Broker

Network and Ethos, for a com-

bined value of over £500 million,

and has signed a deal to acquire

Bennetts, the motorcycle broker.

Towergate grew to be one of the

UK’s biggest private companies

but was brought to the brink of col-

lapse under a debt mountain after

an acquisition spree. It underwent

a debt for equity swap in 2015 with

its bondholders. Peter Cullum,

Towergate’s founder, saw his hold-

ing wiped out. HPS, formerly

known as Highbridge Principal

Strategies, took control and

poached David Ross from the US

broker Arthur J Gallagher to run

Towergate and lead the turn-

around. John Tiner, former chief

executive of the Financial Services

Authority, was made chairman.

Ardonagh’s refinancing com-

pleted last week and involved a

£1.58 billion loan facility from len-

ders and the sale of $500 million of

payment-in-kind notes, a type of

debt where interest can be rolled

up and added to the principal.

While Mr Cullum’s plan to roll

up small brokers was flawed, many

in the insurance world believe he

was ahead of his time. The world’s

biggest brokers are in the midst

of consolidation, including Aon

which in March announced a

$30 billion acquisition of Willis

Towers Watson that will create the

world’s biggest broker.

Ardonagh swoops for three insurance brokers

Katherine Griffiths

Whitehall officials have been
warned that any reduction to the
access British vessels enjoy to the
waters where most of the country’s
fish and chip shop portions come
from would be an “enormous fail-
ure”.
While Britain’s control of its own
fishing waters has been a sticking
point in talks with Brussels, indus-
try leaders are also keeping a close
eye on deals being hammered out
with Norway, Iceland and the Fa-
roe Islands.
The waters of these countries are
the source of about 85 per cent of
the cod and haddock sold in British
fish and chip shops. The UK en-
joyed a share of the quotas the EU
agreed with them, but after Brexit
the government will have to nego-
tiate fishing access with each coun-
try itself.
UK Fisheries, a Hull-based com-
pany with 80 crew, owns Kirkella, a
freezer trawler which catches
about one in twelve cod and had-
dock fillets served up in chippies
across the country.
It does so primarily in Norwe-
gian, Greenlandic and Faroese

waters. “My expectation — and I

reiterate this with officials at every

opportunity — my expectation is

that we will end up with at least

what we have now,” Jane Sandell,

the chief executive, said.

“Anything less is a fundamental

failure on their part and actually

diminishes the UK as an independ-

ent coastal state at exactly the time

we’re taking our seat around the

table in our own right.”

Fishing is a minnow in economic

terms, contributing just 0.12 per

cent of GDP. But taking back con-

trol of British waters was a rallying

cry for Brexit supporters during

the 2016 referendum and has re-

mained a totemic issue ever since.

Industry insiders argue that the

sector has declined since Britain

joined the EU and common fisher-

ies policy. After leaving the EU, the

nation will control its exclusive

economic zone, which extends 200

miles out to sea.

However, 80 per cent of what is

caught in UK waters is exported,

while the most in-demand fish

have to be brought in. Could British

consumers be persuaded to turn

to local options like cuttlefish or

gurnard?

Ninety per cent of the fish sold at

talks with Norway and the Faroe

Islands. “Good progress has been

made on reaching framework

agreements with both these part-

ners,” a spokeswoman said.

With six months left of Britain’s

transition out of the EU, such state-

ments are reassuring for those reli-

ant on access. “The mood music’s

good,” Barrie Deas, of the National

Federation of Fishermen’s Organi-

sations, said. “These Nordic coun-

tries are no pushovers. They’re

tough negotiators. The UK will

need to be equally tough.

“But beneath there is an under-

lying appreciation that the UK is

the new kid on the block which will

be a key player in the annual nego-

tiations going forward.”

Ms Sandell cited “aggressive

marketing campaigns” by Norway

and Iceland as evidence that they

stand “ready and able” to replace

UK vessels with their own should

access not be agreed soon, export-

ing what they catch.

An estimated 167 million por-

tions of fish and chips are served

every year, the National Federa-

tion of Fish Friers said. Mr Crook,

its president, said: “They’ve got the

fish, we need the fish, so there’s al-

ways going to be a trade-off.”

Fishing deal ‘must not limit

UK access to Nordic waters’

A hotel company founded by a

former Lehman Brothers deriva-

tives trader has defied the corona-

virus crisis to secure funding of

£230 million for a hotel develop-

ment in London.

Shiva Hotels, established in 2003

by Rishi Sachdev, has signed a

financing package with two prop-

erty investment firms, Cale Street

Investments and Crosstree Real

Estate Partners, to build a luxury

hotel in Marylebone. Cale Street is

stumping up £160 million, while

Crosstree is providing £70 million.

The planning permission se-

cured by Shiva includes several

restaurants, a rooftop swimming

pool and underground event space.

The hotel, which is due to open

in 2023 with an expected room rate

of £500, will be part of a new brand

encompassing three other hotels

being developed by Shiva.

Mr Sachdev estimated the value

of the completed hotel at about

£450 million.

Shiva secures

£230m hotel

development

Dominic Walsh

Much of the cod and haddock sold in fish and chip shops is caught around Norway and Iceland, while most fish caught in UK waters is exported due to lack of demand

JEFF J MITCHELL/ GETTY IMAGES

Callum Jones
Trade Correspondent