is a
British based
Financial Services company that provides
Life ,
Health and other insurance, as well as
Pension s and
Investment s. It is headquartered in
London and its shares trade on the
London Stock Exchange as part of the
FTSE 100 Index . As well as the
United Kingdom , other major markets include
France ,
Germany , the
Netherlands and the
United States .
Today the company continues to offer a wide range of products and has alliances to sell their insurance products to the customers of
Barclays Bank ,
Alliance & Leicester ,
Birmingham Midshires ,
Norwich And Peterborough Building Society ,
National Australia Bank ,
Bank Of Ireland ,
Bradford & Bingley ,
Chelsea Building Society ,
Northern Rock , and
Sainsbury's Bank .
Legal & General was formed in June
1836 by six
Lawyer s in a Chancery Lane coffee shop. Originally called the , the society was restricted to those in the legal profession. The name was changed to '''Legal & General Life Assurance Society''' to reflect that policies were available to the general public but with share ownership restricted to those in the legal profession.
The group expanded in the UK and soon began to acquire overseas life assurance companies, purchasing the in the
1930s .
In 1956 Life business was set up in
Australia .
The society became a wholly owned division of Legal & General Group Plc in the
1970s .
During the
1980s Legal & General bought two more life assurance societies in the
USA , another in the
Netherlands and set up business in
France .
The previous Legal & General logo incorporates the image of the
Temple Bar (which is still used in the logo of the company's social and athletic committee), and the founding date. The umbrella logo used today was introduced by employee Gordon Macdonald in June
1984 .
In ' company in the UK. However, poor market reception to the deal saw the
Royal Bank Of Scotland bid for the National Westminster, and the merger deal collapsed.
Legal & General Australia was sold in 1998. In 2002,
Northern Rock bought the Legal & General Bank and Legal & General Mortgage Services.
In 2005 Legal & General sold its stake in Gresham its joint venture with Barclays.
Although not often promoted by the company, Legal & General also owns one of the largest estate agency/lettings agency franchise businesses in the UK through its LGFL (Legal & General Franchising Ltd) subsidiary. The businesses are not marketed under the Legal & General brand, but instead operate under a number of regional brands, operating over 110 branches nationwide.
LGFL Franchisees trade under one of seven different brand names depending on the area in which they operate. Each brand name has been trading for at least 17 years and in some cases over 150. The brands are:
- Adam Kennedy
- CJ Hole
- Ellis & Co
- Land & Co
- Parkers
- Simmons & Lawrence
- Whitegates
Since 2005 LGFL has operated under the name Xperience
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