The 800 workforce of Collington Avenue insurance firm Hastings Direct this week came under Australian management.
Insurance Australia Group (IAG) executives welcomed Hastings Direct employees to the family this week, and announced: "Harry's here to stay."
The insurance powerhouse has snapped up the Bexhill-based private company in a deal which also includes Hastings Direct's Gibraltar-based underwriter, Advantage Insurance.
And the new bosses immediately promised:
• NO job losses for any of the company's 1,400 staff
• NO moves to re-locate to foreign call centres
• NO big shake-ups of the running of the company
• NO end to community involvement, such as the company's backing of the Hastings Direct International Tennis Championship in Eastbourne
Australasia's leading general insurance group also announced an ambitious expansion plan for its new purchase, which would see Hastings Direct's size double every five years.
The takeover will see IAG CEO Michael Hawker replace former private owner David Gundlach as chairman, while current chief executive Peter Connell will take responsibility for the day-to-day running of the South East's largest insurance broker.
IAG CFO Projects senior manager Shaun Wolstenholme and head of organisational effectiveness Catherine Rusby flew in from Australia for a tour of Hastings Direct's three offices, which saw them visit Leicester on Tuesday and Manchester on Wednesday.
CEO Mr Hawker introduced himself via a DVD recording this week, but will be making the trip in person on November 2.
Mr Wolstenholme said: "The company is going to remain as is, as a self-contained unit. We've identified some ideas on how to expand the company faster, and we're passing those on. But it really is business as usual."
The Antipodean giant first investigated a buy-out of Hastings Direct in 2001, but instead opted to expand into Asia and New Zealand.
Earlier this year, they signed up to buy a 24.9 per cent share in China Pacific Property Insurance Company, China's second largest property insurer.
IAG sees the acquisition of Hastings Direct - the country's fifth largest personal lines insurance intermediary - as a springboard to further UK buy-outs.
Mr Wolstenholme said: "We're quite an aggressive acquirer of other companies. We think we've got lessons that we can learn from the insurance market here, and we can also offer experience of our own.
"There is a good business model here and we're really pleased to have got it. Why try to fix something if it isn't broken?
"We're looking to raise gross written premiums (revenues received over the life of insurance policies] by 20 per cent per annum, which would see the company double in size every five years.
"No employees will go. If anything, we're looking to recruit more people to maintain growth."
His colleague Catherine Rusby revealed morning meetings with staff had been positive, with employees asking 'good, normal questions'. She said: "Once the ambiguity was gone about job losses, they all started to see the positive side of being part of a multi-national company."
The deal is currently awaiting the approval of regulators, but chief executive Peter Connell admitted he 'couldn't see a scenario where it wouldn't go through'. He claimed he hoped to make a final announcement in a couple of weeks.
And Mr Connell added: "We've got space here for about 50 to 100 extra people here. In a privately-owned company, there was always going to be a limit to what we could achieve in terms of capital and recruitment. But IAG are very ambitious, and they're also looking at other UK acquisitions which we'll try to help them with.
"Our brand has grown over the last four years, especially since we launched our nationwide advertising campaign this year. It's really a national brand now, and we see huge potential growth on the internet as well. We may well end up with another UK site as well, but we're not planning to go off-shore.
"Harry's here to stay."