The story of Lockton Edge is the story of a group of independent entrepreneurs and friends coming together to form one of the largest independent marine insurance broking groups in Europe.

Individually, these brokers had built highly successful broking houses from scratch in the face of intense international competition. In coming together, they pool resources, knowledge and hundreds of years’ collective experience in service of Lockton Edge’s 300 clients in 25 countries.

Our story begins with David A. Edwards who joined London Special Risks in 1995, rising to Managing Director and sole shareholder in 2004.

During this time Tom Midttun, Nils Rokne and other partners launched NorthEdge in Norway with a focus on risk solutions and specialised products, a similar strategy to London Special Risk. Soon after, David A. Edwards bought shares in NorthEdge.

In 2008 Tom Hellebø started Oriental Special Risk in Singapore with financial backing from NorthEdge and London Special Risk and with David A. Edwards and Tom Midttun on its Board. Four years later, Edge Hamburg was founded as a registered and approved insurance broker.

These businesses traded together successfully in a commercial federation for two years until their leaders concluded that a more formal arrangement would serve their clients better. They formed Edge Group Holding AS in 2015 and continued to retain significant shareholdings and senior management positions across the group.

Since 2021 the Edge Group has been acquired by Lockton, the world’s largest independent insurance broker, operating one of the most significant and fastest growing Global Marine practices in the market. Tom Midttun, CEO of Edge Group at the time commented: “As a privately owned business, Lockton’s independence and family ownership was a key advantage. It allows for long term business planning, rather than being driven by the quarterly pressures of the financial markets, which we fundamentally believe benefits clients. We have built our business on teamwork and promote an open, yet highly professional culture, underpinned by deep specialist knowledge. These shared values with Lockton will enable our partners to continue to add value for our clients whilst drawing on Lockton’s global resources to deliver the very best results.

Edge’s entry into Lockton was a process over several years. We made the observation that the Edge Group of companies were collectively a family company driven by family values. We recognised that we were brokers more than investors, and thus understood the real pressures of operating in the fiercely competitive shipping industry and its equally competitive marine insurance business. As such we were less focused on our IRR and short-term result, and more on what caused clients to stay and expand their relationship with us. We never asked our brokers do achieve something we could not ourselves achieve.

The decision to become part of Lockton Global Marine came after a careful consideration of all the foregoing factors, and our new partner was chosen because we are of the view that it is the best way forward for our clients and our people. The courtship that led to this conclusion has been a long one, and throughout the process we have had the opportunity of building friendships and seeing Lockton’s corporate values in practical application. We have found that they align with ours very much and as such represent a seamless continuation of the philosophy which keeps the Edge-engine purring. The Lockton way of entering the marine field "we are a refugee camp for brokers who want to continue to broke" is particularly attractive due to its focus on the long term and realistic goals, and have brought into their new family other highly respected marine practitioners such as P.L. Ferrari and Omni. Like with these companies the Lockton name will be part of our brand and we will trade under the name of Lockton Edge.