esure takes full control of Gocompare in £95m deal

After eight years of hard graft, long hours and putting up with moustachioed tenor Gio Compario, Gocompare founder Hayley Parsons celebrated a £43.7m windfall from the sale of the business she founded at her kitchen table with a McDonald's breakfast on Monday.

Insurance giant esure announced that it had snapped up the 50pc stake in the price comparison website that it did not already own in a £95m deal that will give it full control of the company.

The 41-year-old mum of two insisted that while she's taking a back seat, she's not ready to trade in hard work for a champagne lifestyle just yet. And while selling her 23pc stake in Gocompare has provided her with a bumper payday, she plans to take her family to Center Parcs as a treat.

In a stock market announcement on Monday, the company behind Sheilas' Wheels said the acquisition would help to create "investment opportunities in the short term to drive expansion and diversification over the medium to long term."

For Parsons, the time was right to sell. "I'd spent eight fantastic years building this business but at heart I’m an entrepreneur and I now want to hand the reins on to somebody that will take this business on and go on to bigger and better things without me."

Parsons has always kept a tight grip on the purse strings since setting up the company in 2006. With the help of six friends, a Jeep and some of the money she made while working at rival Admiral, Parsons bought some flat-pack tables and chairs, which staff had to assemble before starting their first shift. The group established the operation in Newport, Wales, where it remains today.

Things are a lot different now. The company employs 210 people, and its turnover was £110m last year, translating into a pre-tax profit of £25m.

Monday's transaction values Gocompare at £190m - although this is less than the £275m its owners said they would consider selling the business for in esure’s flotation prospectus last year.

Peter Wood, esure's chairman, said: "This is another positive milestone for esure Group. Gocompare has always been an exciting business and it has developed strongly following our original investment into one of the UK's leading financial services brands. This move lays the ground for further development of Gocompare as part of the Group's strategy of diversifying income streams."

Parsons now sees herself as a Dragons’ Den-style venture capitalist. “I don’t necessarily see myself creating a whole new startup with myself as the main lead. I could certainly see myself working with other entrepreneurs and helping people,” she said. "I’ve done 25 years of the hard graft and now I see myself very much in the advisory capacity and helping some of these young bright things come through."

Parsons urged the government to do more to help entrepreneurs secure funding. "If I could ask the Government for anything it would probably be linked to processes and speed on [funding]. We need to make that process quicker."

The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval, will be funded by a £125m subordinated debt issue. Deutsche Bank has been appointed as sole book runner for the deal.

Jon Morrell, esure's current deputy chief operating officer, will replace Parsons as chief executive of Gocompare once the transaction goes through in the first quarter of next year.

esure shares fell 4pc to 205p in late trading.