Green Flag

Green Flag started as an idea between two friends, Bob Slicer and Jeffery Pittock, in a pub in Bradford. At the time, the AA and RAC were well established, and offered assistance at the roadside. Slicer and Pittock's National Breakdown Recovery Club operated under a different model, using a network of garages and mechanics that would recover and fix members' cars. The mechanics' local knowledge was meant to provide a swifter response to calls, than the established competition.

When the service began as a three-man business (with Ernest Smith) in 1971, membership only covered breakdowns within a 50-mile radius of their Morley Street base in Bradford and cost £1.50 a year. Within three years, NBRC had become the largest breakdown recovery firm in the country, with over 100,000 members.

In 1984, NBRC was acquired by National Car Parks (NCP),. Five years later, the firm moved to new, purpose-built headquarters in Pudsey, which were opened by Diana, Princess of Wales. The company was renamed Green Flag in 1994 and, under the leadership of Chief Executive Ernest Smith, looked to expand into other insurance services. "Green is the symbol of health in Europe," Smith told The Independent in 1995.

In 1992, a subsidiary was created called Green Flag USA, from acquisition of National Breakdown in Lafayette, LA

NCP was bought out by investment firm Cendant, which put Green Flag up for sale in 1999 after regulators blocked their attempt to also buy RAC. Later that year, Green Flag became part of the RBS Group when it was acquired by Direct Line for £220m. June 2008 saw Green Flag announce that it would be branding four hundred vans across its network, to match its marketing.

In 2011, Green Flag reviewed its network of contractors, reducing the number of partner firms from 283 to 173

} By 2013, five firms represented the majority of Green Flag's network. RBS' insurance division was floated in October 2012 as Direct Line Group. The new company had declared itself a separate entity the previous month.

In 2015, Direct Line Group announced it would consolidate its sites in the Leeds area, with the closure of the Green Flag Operations Centre in Pudsey. All staff were retained and moved to the Group's new site in Leeds at The Wharf buildings, with Green Flag operations in Glasgow continuing as normal.

Green Flag offers a range of breakdown products, from basic roadside assistance to full European cover with recovery, covering cars, motorbikes, trailers and small vans. The company claims an average response time of 42 minutes and that it has over four million customers. Like the rest of the Direct Line Group, Green Flag's products are underwritten by UK Insurance Limited.

Green Flag's services are also available through partners, including Direct Line, Churchill, Privilege, Clydesdale Bank/Yorkshire Bank, RBS/NatWest. They also operate a specialist breakdown service for caravan and motorhome owners, on behalf of the Caravan Club. Green Flag no longer provides coverage for Esure and Sainsbury's Bank customers, these contracts were lost to the RAC following re-tendering.