A current upward trend in insurance premiums is just the beginning of the spiral, warns Michael Wright, managing director of the AE Insurance Group, which has just relocated to Southampton from Basingstoke.

AE Insurance Brokers and AE Financial Services are one of the largest, privately-owned brokers in the city and have moved to premises in Westwood Road.

The main reason for the move to Southampton is that AE has a substantial client base along the M27 corridor. It also has clients nationally and internationally, and relocation has provided the group, set up in 1982, with the opportunity to restructure.