The company, which reported a mixed set of results for the six months to the end of December, said Hansard Europe will be closed to new business from 30 June 2013, after which the company will enter a period of “orderly run down”.
Hansard said it does not plan to close any offices at present, although it added that it “does expect to achieve some cost savings through this process which will be invested in growth markets”. Indeed, part of the reason why it is closing the European portion of its business is to concentrate further on areas which it has identified as its growth markets – particularly, the Far East and Latin America.
In a statement, the company said it does not expect the closure to have a significant impact on future levels of new business, with the levels of new business from the countries currently serviced by Hansard Europe at less than 10% of the group’s total new business in H1 2013.
A spokesperson said the company is currently unable to say whether or not there will be any job losses and said the “full closure plan will be confirmed following [Hansard’s] discussions with the relevant regulatory bodies”. Similarly, the fate of the company’s senior team, including managing director Rachel Panagiodis and sales director for Europe & Middle East Colm Rushe, was not confirmed.
The company revealed that in the six months to the end of December (H1 2013), new business from sales of its regular premium products was up marginally compared with the same period last year, with sales hitting £66.8m from £67.6m. The company’s regular premium business includes Vantage, a product launched jointly by Hansard Europe and Hansard International in October last year.
Sales of its single premium products meanwhile, were around £4m down over the same period – falling to £16.6m from £22.1m.
