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 county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

and

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

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

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...

History

The business was founded by

Sidney De Haan Sidney Isaac De Haan, OBE (6 February 1919 – 16 February 2002) 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 Born in Mile End, East London E3 o ...

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. De Haan took over Saga in 1984 when his ...

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

Charterhouse Charterhouse may refer to: * Charterhouse (monastery), of the Carthusian religious order Charterhouse may also refer to: Places * The Charterhouse, Coventry, a former monastery * Charterhouse School, an English public school in Surrey London ...

in October 2004. Saga merged with

The AA AA Limited, trading as The AA (formerly The Automobile Association), is a British motoring association. Founded in 1905, it provides vehicle insurance, driving lessons, breakdown cover, loans, motoring advice, road maps and other services. Th ...

(owned by CVC and

Permira Permira is a global investment firm. Founded in 1985, the firm advises funds with assets under management of €60+ billion. The Permira funds have made approximately 300 private equity investments in four key sectors: Technology, Consumer, Ser ...

) to form Acromas Holdings. In July 2011, Saga acquired

Allied Healthcare Nestor Primecare Services Limited also known as Allied Healthcare was the UK's largest domiciliary care business and a leading provider of outsourced healthcare services to the English primary care sector. History Allied Healthcare started in 1972, ...

. 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. 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. 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.

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 ho ...

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, Commercial Van, 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 value, while also obtaining a lump sum or a steady stream of income, using the value of the asset. Pricing of no negative equity guarantee The UK Prudent ...

, 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 Paul Bach (born Paul George Roger Bach on 13 November 1938 in Forest Gate in London – died on 18 September 2011) was a regional press journalist and editor, at one time the editor-in-chief of the Celtic Press group and group editor of the Stra ...

, under his editorship, it became Britain's biggest selling monthly magazine.

Television campaign

In 2021 Saga launched a new television campaign called Experience is Everything,Experience is Everything YouTube video
/ref> featuring actor

Nicholas Farrell Nicholas C. Frost (born 1955), known professionally as Nicholas Farrell, is an English stage, film and television actor. Education Farrell was educated at Fryerns Grammar and Technical School in Basildon, Essex, followed by the University of ...

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