Different era dawns as Atkinson Smith changes name and takes on staff

Atkinson Smith, Doncaster, which has 72 staff and a £20m insurance premium value turnover, has changed its name to ProAktive. The company, which also has an office in Shepcote Office Village, Sheffield, has appointed account executives and invested £500,000 in a new self-built computer system, ASsyst, to help market and manage its new business consultancy services nationally.

ProAktive chief executive Jon Whiteley said: “Our change to ProAktive sees the end of the Atkinson Smith name after 34 years. The change is the culmination of six years of research and development work which is enabling us to offer a far broader range of business consultancy services and put us ahead of our competitors throughout the UK. In our new era as a business consultancy, we are now able to go into a broad spectrum of companies and offer solutions to a wide range of complex business issues they face as opposed to simply selling them policies or products in case difficulties arise.

“As a truly pro-active business we are able to become a catalyst for positive change in partnership with our clients rather than just a company which helps them react to circumstances which are often unfavourable and this is proving hugely popular and winning us a large volume of work.”

All the former Atkinson Smith subsidiaries, including TIB, DMS, ProAktive Risk Management and Atkinson Smith Financial Services, have become part of ProAktive which now encompasses services including insurance, risk management, financial services, human resources, health and safety, employee benefits, document management and fleet management.

Among new clients which ProAktive has won through the new service offer are Somerset quarrying business Gurney Slade and lime products manufacturer, Singleton Birch, Barnetby.

Mr Whiteley said the change has been welcomed among insurance and risk management professionals as “an evolutionary approach”.