Close Brothers Premium Finance has signed a new five-year contract with Brown & Brown’s UK network business Hedron Network, to provide financing solutions to its insurance broker partners.

The exclusive deal, which renewed 1 January, will support both personal and commercial lines customers, although the bulk of Hedron’s brokers are commercial lines insurance brokers.

The deal will see the team work closely with Hedron and its partner brokers, using these proven tools and techniques, combined with dedicated sales managers and experienced migration teams to support the needs and goals of Hedron and its network.

Elliott Hayes, CBPF director, commercial lines, said: “It’s great that Hedron continues to have confidence in Close Brothers and we look forward to continuing the strong partnership we’ve enjoyed with the Hedron team for another five years.

“CBPF has always been a strong supporter of the network model, and this important deal underscores our ambition to remain the market leader in this space. We already undertake significant volumes of work in the network sector, and our specialist network relationship team, headed up by Karen Johnson, will be working closely with Hedron. We can offer finance solutions and other facilities to all partner brokers, and, with the rock-solid support and backing of our bank, we are keen to unlock other ways in which we can work in partnership with the membership base.”

Chris Haggart, chief executive of Hedron, said: “I’ve been impressed by Close Brothers’ commitment to the Network model. Our partnership ensures that Hedron partner brokers and, importantly, their customers have access to market-leading financial solutions. It’s clear that Close Brothers are fully committed to meeting the evolving needs of brokers, and I look forward to another successful five years doing business with Elliott and his team.”