Admiral CEO attributes FTSE giant’s staff retention to share awards scheme
FTSE 100 insurance giant CEO Milena Mondini tells senior reporter Maria Ward-Brennan that Admiral’s share awards plan has significantly contributed to staff retention.
Admiral Group stands out as one of the UK’s most successful insurance companies, with an internal focus on staff retention and employee happiness.
CEO Milena Mondini told City AM, “We wanted people to treat the customers as if they were their own customers….and the best way to do it is just give them a piece of the business.”
The Admiral group share incentive plan rewards eligible employees, after one year of service, with free shares worth up to £3,600 per year, typically awarded twice annually in March and September.
“It doesn’t matter which job you get, your entry‑level job, you’re with us for one year, you get £3,600 worth of shares, so for entry‑level jobs it’s important,” Mondini stated.
The issuer shared that it has awarded almost 20 million shares since going to market in 2005; at its current share price, this would be worth around £628m.
Mondini pointed out that many people save their shares and use it for weddings, honeymoons, or buying a house. She noted this helps with retention as Admiral has a “very high retention” rate, with a lot of the senior people having been around for 20 years plus.
UK motor soared after bad couple of years
Admiral reported double-digit profit growth over the last financial year, with profit before tax rising 16 per cent to £958m and its UK motor division surpassing the £1bn profit mark.
UK motor insurance has been the heart of Admiral since it was founded in 1993.
However, the market has been very cyclical. The years between 2022 and 2023 were described as “really tough” with the market losing over £1bn each year.
So, for Admiral, as with all insurers, the aim is to anticipate the cycle, moving earlier than the market to protect margins while staying competitive.
“For us, competitiveness is very important,” Mondini stated. She explained that in the UK, “Almost everything goes through price comparison sites”, where price is a major decision for consumers.
To spot trends first and reprice faster than rivals, and to monitor claims frequency, severity, and inflation closely.
Motor fleet insurtech Flock partnered with Admiral back in 2024 to inform its commercial motor arm’s thinking on data‑rich motor insurance.
The trends in driving have also shifted massively, as Mondini acknowledges, with younger people putting off getting a licence until their 20s/30s, but this is offset by older people driving longer and an overall increase in cars on the road.
“Our expectation is that insurance premiums will continue to grow… at least until 2040.”
However, given the cyclical nature of the motor insurance market, “[Admiral] started to diversify roughly 15 to 20 years ago.”
Admiral has been expanding its other lines of business recently, following its April 2024 acquisition of RSA Insurance Group (RSA) for £ 82.5 m, including direct Home and Pet renewal rights.
Home is in Wales, not London
Unusually for a listed firm of its size, Admiral does not have any office in London; the group is headquartered in Wales, with offices in Cardiff, Swansea, Newport, and one in Peterborough, thanks to Flock.
“We question every year, shall we have an office in London? But every time the group thinks about it, we end up with no answer because of its strong cultural roots in Wales.”
Despite having no presence in the City, the company focuses on growing its business in Europe and the UK. Last financial year, businesses in Italy, France and Spain were growing, with France highlighted as having had a “fantastic year”.
“There are better and worse years, particularly in UK motor… but across the cycle our expectation is that we’ll continue to grow in UK motor, and in every other single business, possibly at even faster pace, because there’s more there and they require more economy of scale,” Mondini added.