Goldman Sachs-backed Aston Lark hires ex-Marsh to head new office

Aston Lark, the Chartered insurance broker backed by Goldman Sachs, has appointed Jim Stevenson as associate director and head of its new Cheltenham office.

Stevenson joins after a 19-year career at Clarke Roxburgh, Jelf and Marsh Commercial where he was regional director in the South Midlands and South Wales leading offices in Worcester, Cheltenham, Bath, Swindon, Cardiff and Swansea. Previously, he spent 12 years with Commercial Union, CGU, Norwich Union and Aviva.

The company's new Cheltenham office will cover the three counties of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire and further afield across the Midlands and South West.

Peter Blanc, Group CEO of Aston Lark, said: “Aston Lark is first and foremost about looking after clients. Jim clearly shares our passion for customer service and, with his wealth of experience and depth of relationships, I’m looking forward to seeing our new Cheltenham office go from strength to strength. We plan to carry on recruiting and growing organically across the country and welcome discussions with like-minded individuals. I wish Jim all the very best as he builds a new office from scratch as part of the Aston Lark family.”

Stevenson added: “I had a great opportunity to reflect and consider my next role carefully. Aston Lark has had an exceptional trajectory since its merger, with integrity and customers at the core of its strategy. The recent investment by Goldman Sachs continues to drive growth and I look forward to working with Peter and the Aston Lark team to introduce their insurance and employee benefits proposition into this greenfield region for the group.”

“Increasingly in this current climate, businesses focused on sustainable growth must surround themselves with advisers who support all their operations, supply chain and people," he added. "Aston Lark will adapt and evolve with a ceaseless focus on good customer outcomes and agility to become the broker of choice for customers, insurers, employees, affiliates and other brokers that might consider Aston Lark as the ideal home for their business when the time is right.”