Eastside Insurance Services

About Us

Based in Port Tennant and Pontardawe, this year we are celebrating our 20th anniversary.

Partners Anthony Fox and Steve Corney have come a long way, since establishing the company in May 1986, with the help of a £40 a week salary guaranteed by the Enterprise Allowance Scheme.

We started off with no clients and now have over 5,000 customers on our books. We are pleased that the majority of our customers have stuck with us over the years, in fact we still have our very first customer Andrew Vaughan, from Manselton on the books, who took out car insurance with us.

Our original premises was a run down office in the old Morris Brothers buildings in Ysgol Street, Port Tennant. We now have our head office in Port Tennant Road and a further branch in James Street Pontardawe.

When we started there were around 30 companies similar to ourselves, now we are one of the few High Street, brokerage companies left who still offer a walk-in office facility. Our emphasis is still on face-to-face sales, combined with a personal, professional expert service.

East Side Insurance Services has remained an independent brokerage company authorised and regulated by the FSA (Financial Services Authority). From our original roots of providing motor insurance, the firm has expanded with the needs of its customers to offer a wide range of personal insurance services that include household, travel and property ownership.

At Eastside we offer a full range of commercial insurance for landlords, hotels, shops, offices, pubs, factory units and motor fleets, providing advice on property liability and professional indemnity.

In 1999 we launched Eastside Insurance Financial Services, along with Gareth Davies and now have six Independent Financial Advisors to offer the facility of life insurance, pensions, mortgage and investments. In the same year we decided to broaden our base and offer legal services. Peter Lynn and Partners now provides in-house legal services to our clients.

"We decided it was time to expand our operations to provide a fully comprehensive service that could accommodate all our customers needs. A sort of one-stop insurance shop."
Anthony Fox

The business has gone from strength to strength gaining a reputation as an independent insurance intermediary, providing impartial advice to customers.

In 2003 Eastside Insurance Services expanded further by taking over the business of Roger Hanford Insurance Services in Pontardawe, retaining the office and staff. This was followed a year later by the acquisition of Times Financial of Cwmllynfell, extending our operations into the
Swansea Valley.

We (Anthony and Steve) admit we are lucky to have a good balanced, hands on partnership, with Anthony usually seen on the counter at the Port Tennant office ably assisted by Chris Mills, Angela Daniel and Daniel Clement. While Steve is more the "back room boy" and concentrates on the administration of the company, our commercial department is run by Roger Hanford.

Our Pontardawe office provides a bilingual service and is managed by Adrian Hallett, assisted by Margaret Howells and Wyn Griffiths, plus Independent Financial Advisors Brian Lewis and Phil Williams. They now have a staff of 14, which includes the financial advisors. "We are lucky with our staff" said Steve, " the majority have been with us at least ten years and have a lot of experiences in the business."

Our company last year became fully authorised with the FSA. Gaining compliance authorisation has taken a lot of investment in training and software to meet the new regulations. We now have a 'Compliance officer' to deal with the paperwork to meet FSA standards.

Eastside Insurance Services have continued to be part of the community and we see ourself as a local firm offering a personalised services to customers. We regularly sponsor local community activities in both Swansea and Pontardawe.

In an age of faceless telephone services, Eastside Insurance Services continues to provide a personally delivered service that puts the customers first and foremost.