NAHL Group plc is the parent company of National Accident Helpline (NAH), Fitzalan Partners (Fitzalan), Searches UK (Searches) and Bush & Company Rehabilitation (Bush & Company). NAH was founded in 1993 in order to assist genuine accident victims in seeking compensation and redress for injuries suffered. In February 2015, the Group acquired Fitzalan Partners, an online marketing specialist in the conveyancing and surveyor markets. Bush & Company, a provider of specialist services in the catastrophic injury market, was acquired in October 2015 and Searches UK followed in January 2016 as part of the Group's continued growth strategy within the legal services market.
The NAH business has had 20 years' experience in advertising and marketing development, with the first national press adverts appearing in 1994 and the first UK-wide, commercial TV adverts airing in 1997.
As Personal Injury (PI) law firms began to see the advantage of pooling resources and marketing their services through a national brand, investment in advertising continued to increase. In 1998, the Group’s call centre became fully operational, and in 1999, the Access to Justice Bill was passed, creating demand for ‘no win, no fee’ agreements.
In 2006, the Group became wholly independent through a management buy-out backed by the private equity firm LDC. In 2007, the Ministry of Justice formed the Claims Management Regulatory Unit (CMRU) in order to improve access to justice and promote the interests of consumers by regulating claims management companies and marketing service providers. In 2009, Inflexion, another private equity firm, invested in the Group.
In 2010, the Group created the Underdog character as an advertising vehicle, primarily for use across TV and digital media. The Underdog understands what it feels like to be “the little guy”. He characterises how NAH’s core consumer group feel about claiming against “the big guys” such as large companies, institutions and businesses. He demonstrates the potential for every consumer to access justice and compensation.
Between 2010 and 2014 a number of new executive and leadership appointments were made to support the development of the Group strategy and manage the business through a period of regulatory change including the UK’s Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO), which was enacted on 1 April 2013.
NAH does not cold call or text. During the passage of the LASPO Bill NAH campaigned against nuisance marketing and other activities which disadvantage accident victims. In February 2012, NAH put forward a number of amendments aimed at curtailing unethical practices such as cold calling, spam texting, third party capture and advertising in hospitals.
In May 2014, NAHL successfully floated on the Alternative Investment Market (“AIM”) of the London Stock Exchange and became NAHL Group plc.
In February 2015, NAHL acquired Fitzalan Partners which provides conveyancing lead generation services to over 70 law firms and 150 surveyors.
In October 2015, NAHL acquired Bush & Company as part of a continued targeted acquisitions strategy to support our growth agenda. Bush & Company provides a range of assessment, rehabilitation and support services for almost any type of disability.
In January 2016, Fitzalan Partners acquired Searches UK a leading conveyancing search provider in England and Wales predominantly for residential property transactions.
In June 2017 , the NAH business unveiled a rebrand, which puts customers front and centre and includes a new identity and integrated marketing campaign, with six new television adverts, alongside an extensive digital and social media campaign, under the banner of “When it’s wrong, make it right.” The rebrand marks a departure from the aggressive ‘no win no fee’ style advertising associated with the personal injury sector by instead focusing on real customer stories. The campaign follows the customer journey from the original call to NAH to how the injured person’s life was affected and how they got back on track.
