With nearly 25 years in the business and a recent private equity partnership poised to accelerate its growth, QuestGates is navigating a pivotal moment. Following a major leadership restructure, we sit down with the firm’s new Group Executive Chairman, Chris Hall, and his successor, long-serving executive Greg Laker, who has stepped into the role of CEO. They discuss how the company’s new C-suite and operational structure will fuel its ambitious acquisition strategy while preserving a culture built on service.
Having been with QuestGates since its early days, how will your deep institutional knowledge shape your leadership as CEO? Please share a specific example of how you will preserve the firm’s service-focused culture while managing its rapid expansion and recent acquisitions.
It’s a tremendous honor to be in this position, especially having been one of the company’s first employees. That history isn’t just a line on my resume; it’s the foundation of my approach. I’ve seen firsthand how our commitment to service-focused solutions has driven our growth over nearly 25 years. A specific example is how we handle integration. As we bring new firms into the fold—and we’ve done 18 so far—we don’t just absorb their balance sheets. We immerse their teams in our core philosophy, which is that we are here to enhance the insurer’s claims offering, not just process claims. It’s about instilling that cultural DNA from day one, ensuring that even as we grow to 500 employees and beyond, every client feels the same level of dedicated service that defined us from the very beginning.
With private equity now supporting a strategy to consolidate a fragmented market, how will the new C-suite structure specifically enable future acquisitions? Could you walk me through the process for integrating a new company into your four core business areas?
The new C-suite is the engine for this exact strategy. Having Colin Ganson as COO, Glen Donaldson as CCO, and Peter Mitchell as CFO creates a dedicated leadership team with the bandwidth to focus on both operational excellence and strategic growth. When we identify an acquisition target, this team allows for a much more streamlined process. For integration, we have a clear blueprint. We evaluate the new company’s strengths and immediately map them into one of our four core business areas: loss adjusting, claims management, building consultancy, or legal services. For instance, if we acquire a smaller, specialized loss adjusting firm, its team would be integrated under the leadership of Nicola Sutton and David Homer. This model provides clarity for everyone involved and ensures that we can quickly leverage their expertise within our established, successful framework, all while the C-suite keeps its eyes on the next opportunity in this fragmented market.
Your company recently organized its operations into four distinct units: loss adjusting, claims management, building consultancy, and legal services. What was the strategic rationale for this model, and can you provide a practical example of how these units will collaborate on a complex claim?
The rationale was to create clarity and specialized expertise that our clients can rely on. Instead of being a single, monolithic entity, we operate as a group of interconnected specialists. This structure ensures deep expertise in each critical area of the claims process. For a practical example, imagine a complex commercial fire claim. Our loss adjusting unit would immediately be on-site to assess the scope and financial impact. Simultaneously, our building consultancy team, led by Chris Carlton, would evaluate the structural integrity and begin planning the reinstatement work. While this is happening, the claims management team under Stuart Lansdown would be coordinating with the policyholder and insurer, ensuring a smooth flow of information. If a subrogation opportunity or a liability dispute arises, our legal services arm, QGLaw, is already part of the team and can step in seamlessly. It’s a truly integrated solution that manages every facet of a complex claim under one roof.
As you transition from CEO to Group Executive Chairman, what will be your primary focus in supporting Greg Laker’s leadership? How will you specifically guide the company’s long-term strategy and succession planning while stepping away from day-to-day operational control?
My primary focus is to be a strategic guide and a guardian of the company’s culture. After nearly 25 years of building this business into the UK and Ireland’s largest owner-managed claims provider, the time is absolutely right for Greg to take over operational control. I have complete confidence in him. My role will be to work with him and the board on the bigger picture—identifying long-term growth opportunities, mentoring our next generation of leaders, and ensuring our succession strategy is robust. I’ll be heavily involved in shaping the strategic direction, particularly concerning major acquisitions and market positioning, but I will consciously step back from the day-to-day decisions. This gives Greg the space he needs to lead effectively while allowing me to ensure the core values that got us here remain central to our future.
QuestGates saw significant growth last year, with revenues of £41 million and an 8% increase in employees. As the leadership team charts the next phase of growth, what are the key commercial priorities, and which specific metrics will you use to measure success?
Our key commercial priority is to execute a sustainable growth strategy, leveraging the support from our partnership with Equistone. This means we’ll be actively pursuing acquisitions to consolidate what we see as a fragmented market. But growth isn’t just about getting bigger; it’s about getting better. Success for us will be measured by more than just top-line revenue, though we certainly aim to build on that £41 million figure. We’ll be closely tracking client retention rates and Net Promoter Scores to ensure our service quality remains best-in-class. Another key metric will be the successful integration of acquired businesses, measured by employee retention within those new teams and the speed at which they are contributing to our overall performance. It’s about smart, strategic expansion, not just growth for growth’s sake.
What is your forecast for the loss adjusting sector over the next five years?
I believe the sector is on the cusp of significant transformation, driven by two major forces: consolidation and technology. The market remains fragmented, presenting a fantastic opportunity for well-capitalized and strategically-focused firms like ours to build scale and offer a more comprehensive service. We’ll see fewer, but larger and more sophisticated players. Secondly, technology and data will become even more critical in delivering efficient and accurate claims solutions. The firms that successfully integrate technology to enhance, not replace, the expertise of their people will be the ones that thrive. The non-cyclical nature of claims makes this a resilient sector, but the next five years will belong to those who can effectively combine strategic acquisitions with technological innovation to deliver superior service.
