Saga Group
Encyclopedia
Saga is a British company focused on serving the needs of those aged 50 and over. It has 2.7 million customers. The company has five call centres. All are in the UK, three in Folkestone, Kent at Middelburg Square, Enbrook Park and Cheriton Park; the fourth at the Eurokent Business park in Ramsgate, Kent, and the newest at Priory Square in Hastings. The director general is Dr Ros Altmann
.
Saga Holidays provides package holiday
s and tours across the globe, it owns and operates the cruise ships Saga Pearl, Saga Sapphire and Saga Ruby and also owns and operates the Bel Jou Hotel in St Lucia, as well as the Spirit of Adventure cruising brand.
Saga Insurance provides a wide range of Insurance products (Motor, Home, Travel, Caravan, Commercial Van, Pet, Private Medical, Life Insurance, Motorhome)
Saga Personal Finance provides savings accounts, credit cards, travel money, financial advice, equity release
, share dealing, annuities, life assurance & long term care funding advice.
Saga Independent Living provides domicillary care nationwide. (After the acquisition of Nestor Healthcare)
Sidney De Haan
founded the company. His son Roger De Haan
took over in 1984, after his father's retirement.
Saga was acquired by the private equity firm Charterhouse
in 2004. Saga merged with The AA
(owned by CVC
and Permira
) to form Acromas Holdings
.
, under his editorship it became Britain's biggest-selling monthly magazine. It is currently edited by Kate Bravery, and Emma Soames
is the Editor-at-Large.
business that was acquired by the Saga Group in 1989. Although the acquisition was planned primarily to satisfy Saga's own direct mail needs, the company was expanded to compete for business from other customers in 2000 from its facility in County Durham
.
Ros Altmann
Dr Ros Altmann, born 1956, is a UK pensions expert and campaigner. She led a long campaign on behalf of 140,000 Allied Steel and Wire employees and their families whose company pensions were jeopardised when the company went into receivership. She has also supported a campaign for people whose...
.
Saga Holidays provides package holiday
Package holiday
A package holiday or package tour consists of transport and accommodation advertised and sold together by a vendor known as a tour operator. Other services may be provided like a rental car, activities or outings during the holiday. Transport can be via charter airline to a foreign country...
s and tours across the globe, it owns and operates the cruise ships Saga Pearl, Saga Sapphire and Saga Ruby and also owns and operates the Bel Jou Hotel in St Lucia, as well as the Spirit of Adventure cruising brand.
Saga Insurance provides a wide range of Insurance products (Motor, Home, Travel, Caravan, Commercial Van, Pet, Private Medical, Life Insurance, Motorhome)
Saga Personal Finance provides savings accounts, credit cards, travel money, financial advice, equity release
Equity release
Equity release is a means of retaining use of your house or other object which has capital value, while also obtaining a lump sum or a steady stream of income, using the value of the house....
, share dealing, annuities, life assurance & long term care funding advice.
Saga Independent Living provides domicillary care nationwide. (After the acquisition of Nestor Healthcare)
Sidney De Haan
Sidney De Haan
Sidney Isaac De Haan, OBE was the founder of Saga, an internationally known group of companies providing a wide range of services for people aged 50 and over.- Early life :...
founded the company. His son Roger De Haan
Roger De Haan
Roger Michael De Haan CBE, DL was born in 1948 in Northampton and is the son of the late Sidney De Haan, who created the Saga group of companies, mostly famous for selling holidays to the over 50s market...
took over in 1984, after his father's retirement.
Saga was acquired by the private equity firm Charterhouse
Charterhouse Capital Partners
Charterhouse Capital Partners is a private equity investment firm focusing on leveraged buyout of established, substantial businesses, based in Western Europe...
in 2004. Saga merged with The AA
The Automobile Association
The Automobile Association , a British motoring association founded in 1905 was demutualised in 1999 to become a private limited company which currently provides car insurance, driving lessons, breakdown cover, loans and motoring advice, and other services...
(owned by CVC
CVC Capital Partners
CVC Capital Partners is one of the top five largest private equity firms globally with approximately US$46 billion in funds focused on management buyouts...
and Permira
Permira
Permira is a United Kingdom-based private equity firm with global reach. The firm advises funds with a total committed capital of approximately €20 billion....
) to form Acromas Holdings
Acromas Holdings
Acromas Holdings is the parent company for the merged Automobile Association and Saga Group. The company was formed in May 2007, ahead of the merger the following September.The company also owns Drakefield Insurance, which the AA acquired in May 2007....
.
Magazine
Saga operates a subscription magazine, Saga Magazine, claiming a circulation figure of over 650,000 and a readership of some 2 million per month. Founded by Paul BachPaul Bach
Paul Bach was a regional press journalist and editor, at one time the editor-in-chief of the Celtic Press group and group editor of the Stratford Express series of newspapers, and the founder-editor of Saga Magazine which, under Bach's editorship, became for a time Britain's...
, under his editorship it became Britain's biggest-selling monthly magazine. It is currently edited by Kate Bravery, and Emma Soames
Emma Soames
Emma Soames is a British editor. She is the granddaughter of Winston Churchill and the one-time girlfriend of Martin Amis. She was a long-serving editor of the Telegraph magazine. She is now the editor-at-large of Saga magazine...
is the Editor-at-Large.
MetroMail
MetroMail is a direct mailDirect mail
Advertising mail, also known as direct mail, junk mail, or admail, is the delivery of advertising material to recipients of postal mail. The delivery of advertising mail forms a large and growing service for many postal services, and direct-mail marketing forms a significant portion of the direct...
business that was acquired by the Saga Group in 1989. Although the acquisition was planned primarily to satisfy Saga's own direct mail needs, the company was expanded to compete for business from other customers in 2000 from its facility in County Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...
.