Willis and Sequel Complete World-Class Implementation of Eclipse
New Broking Software Set to Revolutionise Client Service
London, UK, November 3, 2008 - Willis Group Holdings (NYSE: WSH), the global insurance broker, in partnership with Sequel Business Solutions Limited, has completed a major milestone in its Shaping our Future strategy for profitable growth with the implementation of Sequel's Eclipse broking software solution to significantly speed up transactional processing.
More than 1,000 Willis Associates worldwide are now using the application to provide exceptional service to Willis clients. Eclipse is used by the broker for straight-through processing of placements, claims and accounting transactions in the UK and other countries, and continued roll-out to additional business units is planned for 2009.
Willis chose Sequel following an exhaustive supplier selection, to support Willis' Shaping our Future - London modernisation, by speeding up the time it takes to issue policies and process claims. Sequel has worked in close cooperation with Willis to deliver the new system, on time and on budget. It took less than six months from selection of Sequel for the first users to be processing transactions on the application.
"This major implementation has been an outstanding success," says Grahame Millwater, Group President of Willis. "Many ambitious plans are announced in the marketplace, but the great implementations that really work are rare and worthy of celebration. Eclipse has already delivered significant and tangible operational efficiencies, together with an impressive management information capability, and our clients are now benefitting from major process improvement efficiencies. The Eclipse application is a cornerstone of our London-based business and positions us well for future developments in London Market Reform."
David Smith, Sequel's CEO, adds, "Eclipse delivers to Willis the powerful platform they deserve. Our implementation was all about people. The teams from both companies have worked impressively together and delivered against an aggressive timescale. We are incredibly proud of our achievements so far and we look forward to a successful on-going partnership with Willis."
Ends
Notes for editors:
About Willis
Willis Group Holdings Limited is a leading global insurance broker, developing and delivering professional insurance, reinsurance, risk management, financial and human resource consulting and actuarial services to corporations, public entities and institutions around the world. Willis has more than 400 offices in nearly 120 countries, with a global team of approximately 20,000Â Associates serving clients in some 190 countries. Additional information on Willis may be found at www.willis.com.
About Sequel
Founded in 1993 and headquartered in the City of London, Sequel Business Solutions Ltd are a leading insurance and reinsurance software specialists. Sequel's customers are underwriters and brokers within the Lloyd's and London insurance/reinsurance sector. They include the following companies:
| Willis Group Holdings Ltd. |
Jubilee Managing Agency Ltd |
| Brit Insurance Holdings Plc |
Argenta Syndicate Management Ltd |
| Faraday Underwriting Ltd |
GG & Re Co. Ltd |
| RJ Kiln & Co. Ltd |
COBRA London Markets Ltd |
| Ascot Underwriting Agency Ltd |
Spectrum Syndicate Management Ltd |
| Canopius Managing Agents Ltd |
Dashwood Brewer & Phipps Ltd |
| Novae Insurance Company Ltd |
Omega Underwriting Ltd |
| Imagine Syndicate Management Ltd |
ACE INA Services UK |
Sequel is known for their professionalism, industry expertise and track record for delivering on time and on budget.
About Eclipse
Sequel delivers three powerful software solutions for insurers, reinsurers and intermediaries - Eclipse Broking, Eclipse Underwriting and Eclipse Annual Accounting.
Eclipse is a strategic suite of business applications built with 100% Microsoft technology that share a common business and technical architecture - all of our products have been designed with open architecture to enable easy access to information and simple connectivity with other systems. This enables customers to have a comprehensive, holistic view of their business.
Sequel's products have been designed and developed by our insurance experts, in partnership with underwriters and brokers. By combining process efficiencies with innovative analysis and reporting capabilities, Sequel's products give customers control over their business information so they can make decisions quickly and with confidence, as well as taking market and regulatory changes in their stride.
Additional information about Sequel and Eclipse can be found at www.sequel.com.
###