- Stuart Applegate bought Margins Insurance Services after always wanting to own a company – and then lockdown happened
- The Padiham-based business has been running for 40 years and hasn’t let COVID-19 get in the way of its growth plans
- Mr Applegate says he has “huge aspirations” for the business and Padiham is the perfect place to achieve them
Stuart Applegate had always wanted to own a business, after working in the insurance industry for 30 years.
So when the opportunity came up to purchase Margins Insurance Services in Padiham, he took the plunge and bought it – but the same week, the national COVID-19 lockdown happened.
“Actually completing the transaction just as we went into lockdown was scary to say the least – but I can always find a positive out of a negative, and we’ve absolutely flown since then – and I know 2021 is going to be such a massive year for us,” he exclusively told Burnley.co.uk.
Margins Insurance Services has been operating in Padiham for 40 years. Mr Applegate explained that whilst it has a fantastic reputation, he wanted to “take the company to the next level”. He sees Padiham as the perfect base for this.
He explained: “I have clients across the UK, mainly in the corporate arena, and having Margins as a base, it’s a business I can use to really grow – I have huge aspirations. The people here are so friendly, and there’s a real sense of community. Padiham has bags of potential – very much like Burnley itself in many ways.
“The costs of being based here are less than somewhere like Manchester, so that’s a positive. I really want to get engaged with all the local businesses, so that we can give something back to the town, whatever that may look like. I always find that if you give, you tend to get, and that can’t be a bad thing in business.”
At the beginning of September, Margins Insurance Services moved to a new high street office at 86 Burnley Road in the heart of Padiham. The new office has capacity for the business’s growth plans and we wish them all the best for the future.