Bright Grey and Scottish Provident have reported a rise in new business of 45% to £107 million for the first three months of the year.

During the same period, applications were up by 18%.

“Throughout last year the businesses went through a significant overhaul to enable us to compete in difficult trading circumstances and challenge the established players in the market,” said Ross Ainslie, managing director, Bright Grey and Scottish Provident,

“As well as enhancing the products across Bright Grey and Scottish Provident, we amalgamated the sales forces and carried out six months of concerted Marketing and Sales engagement to help advisers develop and strengthen their business.

“This sustained activity meant that we saw a very strong finish to the year, which I’m delighted to say we’ve continued into 2012.”

Ainslie added: “This year we’re helping advisers sell more protection with support from Bright Grey’s Magic Circle and Scottish Provident’s Next Level campaigns, which give them the tools and marketing material to secure more business.

“It’s going to be a year of unprecedented change for the industry with the introduction of RDR, the gender directive and I-E, but with these changes comes a huge potential for advisers to engage with and build their client base, and this year’s marketing and sales activity will focus on these opportunities.”