Top 50 Brokers: Which brokers were flying high in 2025?

Podium places for performance

#1 JM Glendinning

JMG Group owned JM Glendinning has posted a very respectable 27% ebitda margin and 50% revenue uptick in the year to March 2024, as it continues to buy a steady stream of small businesses that collectively move the financial needle.

As one of the few consolidators that is not London-centric, the Leeds-based business has a natural advantage when acquiring northern companies. Creating a rational business out of multiple acquisitions is a challenge, but one that JM Glendinning is certainly up to.

#2 The Acorn Group

How does the motor focused broker do it? In the year to December 2024, its revenue was up more than 50% and ebitda margins were around 47%. This is an outstanding result for any broker, let alone one operating in such a competitive part of the UK general insurance (UKGI) market. Part of the answer must be that the business is headquartered in Formby, giving it one of the lowest cost per employee scores across this year’s ranking at £36,100.

The Acorn Group has also been successful at not paying much for its occasional acquisitions. In January 2025, it acquired telematics business MyPolicy from private equity (PE) owner Inflexion.

#3 Specialist Risk Group (SRG)

Many PE-backed consolidators grew strongly in 2024, but SRG has done so while achieving an ebitda margin of 41%, which is no mean achievement. Having focused on specialist business, it has been able to achieve market beating margins.

In something of a coup, SRG acquired German broker Ecclesia’s Dutch and Belgian broking operations in August 2025, adding some 700 staff to its headcount and kickstarting the firm’s entry into Europe. This provides a strong platform for further M&A.

Best of the rest

Aon

‘Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity’ – this may be a well worn phrase, but it still speaks volumes. At 39%, Aon has the highest ebitda margin of the six brokers with revenue over £1bn. Although its revenue growth is pedestrian at 2%, this is no different to rival Marsh and indicates that organic growth at the top of the Top 50 Brokers table is tough.

Best in class margins such as this will offer significant protection if rates continue to soften in 2026 and turnover falls.

Brown and Brown

Brown and Brown saw strong revenue growth in 2024, with a very creditable 33%. Paired with a 27% ebitda margin, this marks a good performance.

But, with M&A activity significantly down this year, maintaining this level of growth is very unlikely to be achieved in the current financial year unless Brown and Brown pulls something out of its hat – but time to do this is running out.

The management team that sold Global Risk Partners to become Brown and Brown in the UK has stayed in place – no doubt a factor in the broker’s continued success.

Pine Walk

Pine Walk is this year’s highest new entry at number 14. Its inclusion this year was because the firm has increased its ebitda by a respectable – but not dramatic – 8%. Turnover per employee is eyewatering at a little over £3m across 94 staff, but having an MGA element gives the business a natural advantage. If the Top 50 Brokers table was ranked by ebitda alone, Pine Walk would replace Lockton in seventh spot.

QMetric Group

In 2024’s Top 50 Brokers report, QMetric Group recorded strong growth – but had a disappointing ebitda margin of 9%. This year, however, the firm revealed an impressive 34% jump in turnover and, more importantly, a 160% jump in ebitda.

In September 2024, private equity firm Cinven acquired 50% of QMetric Group from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, which in turn had bought the business from Primary Capital in November 2023. Clearly something is going right and with an incentivised management team, the company’s numbers will continue to improve.

Somerset Bridge

How can a firm increase its ebitda margin by 1811%? That would mean starting at a virtually break-even position. But the Top 50 Brokers report is not looking at absolute value, but the increase in value – and, based on this year’s numbers, Somerset Bridge has done this in spades. Its revenue is up 71% in the year to December 2024, with its ebitda margin now standing at 20%.

One word of caution, however, is that Somerset Bridge is owned by reinsurer Arch Re. So, where profits are declared, they have a level of discretion not possible in a standalone business.

Marshmallow

Marshmallow’s accounts for the 12 months to December 2024 show that last year was the first year it had achieved profitability. The business gained FCA approval in 2018 and raised external backing that same year. This is an excellent example of capital taking a long-term view.

Marshmallow’s 2024 accounts state that further money was raised in April 2025 based on a company valuation of £1.6bn. This is a remarkable outturn and demonstrates there are other ways of creating value than consolidating existing businesses.

In 2024, the broker’s turnover increased by almost 90%. But to justify its valuation, investors will be expecting similar levels of growth for many years to come.

Seventeen Group

Seventeen Group has successfully grown by acquisition – but because this has been without private equity support, growth has been at a slower pace. In March 2025, private equity firm IK Partners took a significant minority interest in the broker and a new chief executive has been appointed too, signalling a step change.

But is Seventeen Group too late to the party? The industry has seen tremendous consolidation over the last five to 10 years and there are more buyers than sellers.

That said, with an industry low ebitda margin of 13%, Seventeen Group can deliver serious shareholder returns by simply increasing this figure to the industry norm of at least 25%.