{{Short description|Insurance business}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox company | name = Sun Alliance Group plc | logo = Sun Alliance logo.png | type = Public | caption = | fate = Merged with Royal Insurance | successor = RSA Insurance Group | predecessor = Sun Insurance<br/>Alliance Assurance | foundation = {{sda|1959}} | defunct = {{End date|1996}} | location = London, England | industry = Insurance | key_people = | products = | num_employees = | parent = | subsid = | image = Lothbury, City of London (geograph 5031903).jpg | image_caption = 1 Bartholomew Lane in London (the stone building straight ahead) }} '''Sun Alliance Group plc''' was a large insurance business with its main offices in the City of London and later Horsham. In 1996 Sun Alliance merged with Royal Insurance to form the Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group.
==History== The company was created in 1959 by the merger of Sun Insurance, founded in 1710, and Alliance Assurance founded in 1824.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rothschildarchive.org/business/the_alliance_assurance_company/history_of_the_alliance|title=History of 'The Alliance'|publisher=Rothschild Archive|access-date=16 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170606232417/https://www.rothschildarchive.org/business/the_alliance_assurance_company/history_of_the_alliance |archive-date=6 June 2017}}</ref>
In the mid-1960s Sun Alliance established its administrative centre in a large office block, spanning an A-road through the town centre of Horsham, a railway town {{convert|31|mi}} south of London's centre.<ref>{{cite web|first1=A P|last1= Baggs|first2=C R J |last2=Currie|first3=C R |last3=Elrington|first4= S M |last4=Keeling |first5= A M |last5=Rowland|title='Horsham: General history of the town', in A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 6 Part 2, Bramber Rape (North-Western Part) Including Horsham|location=London|year=1986|pages=131–156|publisher=British History Online|url= http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/sussex/vol6/pt2/pp131-156 |accessdate= 19 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.westsussex.gov.uk/media/2103/horsham_eus_report_and_maps.pdf|title=Horsham: Historic Character Assessment Report |page=19|publisher=Sussex Extensive Urban Survey |date= 1 October 2004 |accessdate=19 April 2020}}</ref> and its head office at 1 Bartholomew Lane in London.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=44336|page=6378|date=6 June 1967}}</ref> The Horsham building, St Marks Court is earmarked as developable.<ref>[https://www.horsham.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/77995/SA672_BLR.pdf St Marks Court] Planning legal status of building. Horsham Council.</ref> In an external recess, to the market place (Carfax) side, is the tall spired tower of the church.<ref name=ll>[https://www.horsham.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/63413/Horsham_Town_Local_List.pdf Horsham Town Local List] Horsham Council</ref> Its nave was demolished in about 1985.<ref name=ll/> The spire was part of the original church of 1841 constructed from sandstone. The tower's base has become a florist and volunteers’ centre.<ref name=ll/>
Sun Alliance went on to acquire the London Assurance Company in 1965 (becoming Sun Alliance & London)<ref name=trebilcock>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AO-QDCl-6sAC&pg=PA1021|title=Phoenix Assurance and the Development of British Insurance: Volume 2, The Era of the Insurance Giants 1870–1984|first=Clive|last=Trebilcock|page=1021|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1999|isbn=978-0521254151}}</ref> and Phoenix Assurance in 1984.<ref name=trebilcock/> The company thus added suffix "Group" in 1989, consolidated most UK-based operations into the Horsham office in 1990,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.publicsculpturesofsussex.co.uk/object?id=168|title=Bridges Memorial Spire|publisher=Public Sculptures of Sussex|accessdate=19 April 2020}}</ref> and yet kept its London head office.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9HrrCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA273|title=Major Companies of Europe 1991/92: Volume 2 Major Companies of the United Kingdom|volume=2|first= J. |last=Forsyth|publisher=Springer Netherlands|year=1991|isbn=978-94-011-3018-9}}</ref> The company merged with Royal Insurance to form the Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group in 1996.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/08/10/rsa_group_cio_interview/ |first1=Gavin |last1=Clarke |title=RSA chief uncans insurance giant's mega IT infrastructure review|date=10 August 2015|publisher=The Register|accessdate=19 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/royal-and-sun-seal-pounds-6bn-merger-1345609.html|title=Royal and Sun seal pounds 6bn merger|newspaper=The Independent|date=3 May 1996|access-date=3 September 2025}}</ref>
{|class="toccolours" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em; font-size: 80%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:28em; max-width: 40%;" cellspacing="5" |style="text-align: left;"|<sup>Summary of all notable mergers to 1996 and company inception dates:<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.rsagroup.com/who-we-are/history/|title= History - RSA Group|author=<!--Not stated--> |website= rsagroup.com|access-date= 12 October 2017}}</ref></sup> {{Tree list}} ** {{Tree list/final branch}} Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group plc (1996) *** Sun Alliance Group (1984) **** Sun Alliance & London (1965)<ref group=a>acquired Phoenix Assurance in 1984</ref> ***** Sun Alliance Insurance Limited (1959) ****** The Sun Fire Office (1710) ****** {{Tree list/final branch}} The Alliance Assurance Company (1824) ***** {{Tree list/final branch}} London Assurance Corporation (1720) **** {{Tree list/final branch}} Phoenix Assurance (1680) *** {{Tree list/final branch}} Royal Insurance (1845) {{Tree list/end}} {{reflist|group=a}} |- |style="text-align: left;"| |}
<gallery> File:Royal Sun Alliance buildings - geograph.org.uk - 438085.jpg|Sun Alliance offices in Horsham, behind the spire that sits in one of its recesses Sun Fire Office insurance mark (cropped).jpg|A Sun Fire Office insurance mark </gallery>
==References== {{reflist}}
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Category:Insurance companies of the United Kingdom Category:Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange Category:Financial services companies disestablished in 1996 Category:British companies disestablished in 1996