We may be in the midst of a pandemic, but broking giant Willis Towers Watson has not eased up on the expansion of its aviation team.

Over the course of the last 18 months, it has added 45 to its team around the globe, with appointments such as:

• A new managing director in Great Britain, John Wadhams, who was previously chief underwriting officer at Chubb for 15 years.
• A new US general aviation practice leader in Lauren Escher, who spent time earlier in her career with XL and AIG.
• A new regional director for aerospace in Asia, in the form of David Boyle – he had previously spent time with AIG Singapore, Marsh and Aon.
• A new head of airline broking in Great Britain, Ed Louth, previously of Antares.
• An executive director for global aerospace, Neil Black, who made the switch from Aon.
• Marsh-alumni Paul Baker, who is now executive director of global aerospace.

“Despite the intense competition in the insurance broker marketplace for talent and the current economic challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, our long-term strategy to build a diverse and innovative client-facing team, has established a first-class aerospace team of over 300 professionals across the globe,” said CEO of global aerospace John Rooley. “In a challenging market environment, our ability to draw on a vast resource of talent enables us to provide deep expertise and support to our clients across the aviation sector.”