Saga is a British company focused on serving the needs of those aged 50 and over. It has 2.7 million customers. The company operates sites on the

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

and

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

coast: Enbrook Park and Priory Square. It is listed on the

London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...

History

Early history

The business was founded by Sidney De Haan in 1951 and was passed to his son

Roger De Haan Sir Roger Michael De Haan, CBE, DL (born October 1948, Northampton) is the son of the late Sidney De Haan, who created the Saga group of companies, best known for selling holidays to the over-50s market. Business career De Haan took over Sag ...

who took over in 1984 after his father's retirement. Saga was acquired by staff (20%) backed by the private equity firm Charterhouse in October 2004. Saga merged with

The AA AA Limited, trading as The AA, is a British motoring association. Founded in 1905, it provides vehicle insurance, Driver's education, driving lessons, breakdown cover, loans, motoring advice, road maps and other services. The association Demut ...

(owned by CVC and

Permira Permira Holdings Limited is a British global investment firm specialised in buyouts, growth funds, equity funds, and credit funds. Founded in 1985 as part of Schroders, it became independent in 1996. Operating as Permira since 2001, the company ...

) to form Acromas Holdings. In July 2011, Saga acquired Allied Healthcare. On 31 January 2015, it wrote it down to zero, and then sold it, at a small net profit, to Aurelius Group in December 2015. In May 2014, Saga Group Ltd was successfully listed on the

as Saga PLC. Also in 2014, Saga acquired Bolton based luxury holiday company, Destinology. In January 2020, Saga appointed Euan Sutherland as CEO of the Saga Group. At the same time, Saga's escorted touring brand Titan Travel was put up for sale, but has subsequently been paused due to the ongoing impact of Coronavirus.

Debt problems

In 2019 the company issued a profit warning and since then it has struggled to reduce its debt. Part of the strategy has been to sell off assets. In February 2020, Saga sold its motorcycle insurance business, Bennetts, to Atlanta Investment Holdings Ltd, part of the Ardonagh group, for £26 million. In March 2020, Saga sold its Patricia White's and Country Cousins domiciliary care agencies to private equity firm Limerston Capital for a reported £14 million now rebranded as Trinity Homecare. In June 2020 Saga Care at Home permanently closed and its assets assigned to another care provider. This marked the end of Saga's involvement in the homecare sector. In November 2023, Euan Sutherland resigned as chief executive with immediate effect after serving for four years. Sutherland will serve until January 2024. Mike Hazell, the company's finance director, has been appointed as his replacement.

Operations

Saga's operations include:'' * Saga Holidays provides

package holiday A package tour, package vacation, or package holiday comprises transport and accommodation advertised and sold together by a vendor known as a tour operator. Other services may be provided such as a rental car, activities or outings during the ...

s and tours across the globe. It owns and operates the cruise ships and '' Spirit of Adventure'' as well as Titan Travel and luxury holiday company, Destinology. * Saga Services provides a wide range of Insurance products, Motor, Home, Travel, Caravan, Pet, Private Medical, Life Insurance, Motorhome. * Saga Personal Finance provides savings accounts, credit cards, travel money, financial advice,

equity release Equity release is a means of retaining use of a house or other asset which has Capital (economics), capital value, while also obtaining a lump sum or a steady stream of income, using the value of the asset. Pricing of no negative equity guaran ...

, share dealing, annuities, life assurance & long term care funding advice. * Saga SOS Personal Alarms. * Saga also owns direct mail and fulfilment service, Metro Mail.

Magazine

Saga operates a subscription magazine, ''

Saga Magazine Saga is a British company focused on serving the needs of those aged 50 and over. It has 2.7 million customers. The company operates sites on the Kent and Sussex coast: Enbrook Park and Priory Square. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange. ...

'', with a circulation of 627,000 and a readership of one million per month; it has been described as the "United Kingdom's biggest selling monthly subscription title". Founded by Paul Bach, under his editorship, it became Britain's biggest selling monthly magazine.

Television campaign

In 2021 Saga launched a new television campaign featuring actor Nicholas Farrell and called ''Experience is Everything''.Experience is Everything YouTube video
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Notes

References

{{reflist, 30em Private providers of NHS services Seniors' organizations Travel insurance companies Folkestone Companies based in Kent Financial services companies established in 1951 1951 establishments in England Old age in the United Kingdom 2014 initial public offerings Insurance companies of the United Kingdom British companies established in 1951 Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange Companies in the FTSE SmallCap Index