Three organisations across the London insurance market have announced leadership developments this week, reflecting continued investment in delegated authority and specialist risk engineering.
Bspoke Group has consolidated its commercial and underwriting leadership under a newly created role, giving brokers trading across its property, home, lifestyle and contents books a single point of accountability rather than separate underwriting silos. Liberty Specialty Markets has bolstered its technical risk engineering capacity across energy, power and construction, adding named specialists brokers can draw on directly when placing complex industrial risk. Verlingue London Markets has brought in a senior broking and underwriting professional to support its growth ambitions in scheme, delegated authority and motor trade business.
Bspoke Group has appointed Wayne Tonge (pictured, left) as managing director of commercial & delegated authority, subject to regulatory approval. The newly created role sees Tonge take on expanded responsibilities as managing director of Bspoke Underwriting, in addition to his existing positions as managing director of commercial and managing director of Miramar Underwriting.
The appointment forms part of Bspoke's strategy to further align its underwriting businesses, creating a more joined-up proposition for brokers, partners and capacity providers. For brokers, that consolidation is the practical benefit: a single senior contact overseeing both commercial and delegated authority lines should mean fewer handoffs between underwriting teams and faster resolution when a risk spans more than one of Bspoke's books.
"I'm excited to take on this expanded role and build on the strong foundations already in place," said Tonge. He said Bspoke Underwriting's specialist expertise across property, home, lifestyle and contents insurance was helping create a proposition that allows brokers to unlock new opportunities in an increasingly challenging market.
Liberty Specialty Markets (LSM), part of Liberty Mutual Insurance Group, has announced a series of risk engineering hires across its energy, power and construction teams in the UK and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) - additions that give brokers placing complex industrial risk direct access to named technical specialists during underwriting and claims, rather than routing every technical query through a generalist contact.
Richard Mundy joins as principal risk engineer for energy, based in London, bringing more than 19 years of industry and insurance experience. He will manage an expanding global client portfolio in the energy sector, with a focus on complex upstream, downstream and construction energy risks, reporting to Paddy Lisulo, UK and MENA risk engineering manager.
Taz Chowdhury (pictured, centre) joins as risk engineer for power, also based in London, with close to seven years of engineering experience across the UK, MENA, Asia-Pacific and Europe. Chowdhury will support the power line of business across the UK and MENA, performing risk appraisals and surveys and providing technical input on claims, also reporting to Lisulo.
Sam McLachlan joins as risk engineer for construction, based in Dubai. A chartered civil engineer with more than 12 years of experience spanning infrastructure, energy, transport, nuclear and commercial sectors, McLachlan will provide technical risk engineering support to the MENA construction team, reporting to Sean Pearson, underwriting manager and construction regional product leader.
For brokers, the practical value of these three appointments is faster, more technically informed underwriting decisions on the kind of large, complex risks where a generic submission often isn't enough - having a named engineer to bring into a pre-bind survey or a claims discussion can materially speed up placement on exactly the risks that are hardest to place elsewhere.
"We are thrilled to welcome Richard, Taz and Sam to our team," said Lisulo. He said the appointments reflected LSM's commitment to delivering technical risk engineering expertise, and that their insights would be vital in helping clients build resilience as the energy, power and construction sectors navigate increasingly complex risk environments.
Verlingue London Markets has appointed Scott Mills (pictured, right) as it continues to invest in its expertise and growth plans. Mills brings more than 30 years of experience across Lloyd's and the London Market, spanning wholesale broking, underwriting, operations and business development, along with a number of senior leadership positions.
Mills will support the continued development of Verlingue London Markets' propositions in scheme and delegated authority development, motor trade, property and casualty, and motor fleet. For brokers working in those lines, his appointment means an experienced, well-connected point of contact who can help structure new scheme or delegated authority arrangements and unblock placement issues, drawing on three decades of relationships across the London Market.
"Scott is exceptionally well known and respected across the London Market," said Barry Reynolds, executive director of Verlingue London Markets. He said Mills's breadth of expertise across broking, underwriting, operations and leadership would be a significant asset to the team and its broker partners as the business continues to grow.
"I am delighted to be joining Verlingue London Markets at an exciting time in its development," said Mills. He said the business had strong momentum and that he looked forward to supporting its continued growth.
