Article by Emmet Ryan | Business Post
The family broker business was founded by Ned Dooley in 1957
Dooley Insurances, a Co Kildare business, is aiming for growth of 25 per cent by the end of 2025.
The business, which is based in Naas, was founded by Ned Dooley in 1957. It is now run by Tim Dooley, Ned’s son, and has 14 staff. At present, it has €100 million in funds under management.
Dooley Insurances is a composite broker, which essentially means it provides all forms of insurance services.
“A lot of brokers might not do life insurance or health insurance. We’re a one stop shop for everything. We do financial services, pensions, health, car, house, business and many other forms,” Tim Dooley told the Business Post.
The business originated from Ned Dooley’s experience across a few different industries and he found he enjoyed dealing with a broad range of people. That led him to find insurance brokering as a natural fit.
“He worked hard to get into the sector and he ran it from home for a number of years. People would call into the house on Christmas Day to pay premiums, walking up after mass,” Tim Dooley said. “It’s a personal business. All of my family have worked in the sector at different stages of our lives.”
The younger Dooley spent 15 years working with different insurers before joining the family business in 2002 as Ned was nearing retirement. The business has grown substantially since then.
“We’ve acquired 10 different brokerages in the last 20 years. Between everything now, we’ve over 10,000 customers across Ireland with many of them being second or third generation customers,” Dooley said.
“There’s still a huge demand for that personal service, with people wanting to deal with a family-owned business. Our partner insurers consider the role of a family business as extremely important, they want brokerages like us to thrive.”
The difference in scale for the business now has led to a digital transformation for Dooley insurances. It has gone from operating as a paper-based company into one that is driven by tech.
“We’ve invested a lot in technology. We’re still a personally focused business, being face to face where we can. My father told me to look at every client like they are your best friend and try to do what’s right for them,” he said.
“It’s a complex industry still. With the health insurance sector alone, we manage over 300 products. Our job is to represent the consumer and simplify it for them.”
Dooley is confident that the company will experience strong growth over the next 18 months due to its one-stop shop approach.
“There’s still strong demand out there. If the client needs advice, we’re there for them. Our job is to go back to them every year and work out the best products for them,” he said
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