Company’s business growing

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33665, 15 October 1974, Page 23

Company’s business growing

The amount of business National Insurance’s Christchurch office has been writing has increased markedly over the years, but the area covered by the office has been shrinking. When the office was first established 101 years ago the territory covered stretched from Kaikoura to to Timaru and the West Coast. An office was established in Ashburton in 1952, the local office at Timaru was made into a branch in 1967,

Kaikoura was taken over by the Wellington branch in 1959, and the West Coast has been serviced by Nelson since a branch was established there in 1970. But during this period when the influence of the Christchurch office has been reduced, the premium income has been increased rapidly. In 1935. premium income was $50,000. ' This increased to $270,000 in 1954 and last financial year it totalled more than $1.2 million.

Mr Lang sees this type of development continuing in the future. “With the development of Rolleston as a satellite city, it seems likely that the area serviced by our office will shrink further as we establish new offices in the Canterbury area,” he said. The National had strong ties with the farming community throughout the South Island, said Mr Lang. The company offer's a wide range of insurance to farmers including crop in-

surance, the insurance of wool from the sheeps back to the broker’s store, and a wide range of insurance for the farming community. The company has also developed strong associations with major industrial and commercial organisations in the South Island, including Andrews and Beaven, Ltd (Mr W. B. Beaven became the company’s first Christchurchbased director in 1954) and Wrighton NMA, Ltd, with whom, because of the farm-

ing community service the company offers, it has special ties. Until recently, Mr J. M. Ritchie, who remains a director today, was the chairman of both companies.