Ripe, a Manchester-based digital insurance MGA that built its name around leisure lines – motorhomes, caravans, park homes, golf, boats – moves to buy Schofields, a Bolton outfit that insures holiday homes in the UK and abroad.
The M&A deal still needs the usual closing steps, though both sides talk as if the handover’s already moving.
According to Beinsure analysts, this marks Ripe’s third sizeable purchase and signals a cleaner push into a specialty market that isn’t always easy to scale without strong pricing data and sharper distribution.
Schofields remains a family-run business for now. Jonathan and Philip Schofield keep leading the operation, sitting alongside Ripe’s management group, while Keith Schofield – founder and majority shareholder – steps back into a consulting role to steady the transition.
It’s a tidy structure, and it avoids the messy leadership void that sometimes follows MGA acquisitions.
Ripe’s CEO, Alan Thomas, says the company plans to plug its tech stack and marketing muscle straight into Schofields to accelerate growth, and he stresses that the acquired team’s customer service stays untouched.
Maybe that’s aspirational, but it fits Ripe’s broader play: use digital distribution to carve out profitable niche segments that traditional carriers often price with blunt tools.
We intend to use our technology and marketing expertise to further drive Schofields’ growth while maintaining the exceptional customer service that has established their reputation as a trusted and successful provider.
Alan Thomas, CEO of Ripe
A separate thread sits in the background. Cinven, the international private equity firm, grabbed a 50% stake in Policy Expert last year, a UK MGA that focuses on home and motor.
Cinven’s Strategic Financials Fund bought the holding from an Abu Dhabi Investment Authority subsidiary.
These moves, taken together, show how investors keep circling UK MGAs with strong underwriting engines and direct-to-consumer reach, even as pricing cycles lurch around and capacity shifts more often than brokers like to admit.
In April, 2025, Ripe has completed the acquisition of marine insurance provider GJW Direct from Munich Re Specialty. The financial terms of the agreement, originally announced in October 2024, have not been disclosed.
Founded in 1826, GJW Direct offers non-commercial boat insurance across various types of vessels. Its products are now integrated into Ripe’s proprietary technology platform, Juice.
The acquisition expands Ripe’s presence in the marine insurance sector. GJW Direct joins Ripe’s existing boat insurance brands, including Insure4Boats and Craftinsure, the latter acquired in 2023.
