3 February 2016 Insurance

Towergate expands corporate practice with three hires

Independent insurer Towergate has made three senior appointments to support plans to strengthen and grow its corporate and mid-market practice with niches and specialisms.

David Brierley will take on the role of environment practice leader, Mitch Cookney has been hired as development executive specialising in latent defects insurance and Jon Fox has been appointed as risk manager.  All are newly created roles.

Brierley joins from Willis, where he developed its environmental business in the context of mergers and acquisitions and land transactions and placed portfolio cover for some of the UK’s largest property companies. He previously spent ten years as environment risks manager at Bridge Insurance Brokers. He will work with Towergate's 70-strong branch network to provide advice on environmental cover to existing customers as well as developing new business.

Cookney joins the firm from latent defects specialist provider BLP Insurance, where he was responsible for the north of England and generating new business.

Fox comes to Towergate from NFU Mutual Risk Management Services where he held the role of risk management consultant. His risk management solutions have been used extensively by clients including construction contractors, food processing plants, manufacturers, retail, agricultural contractors and engineering contractors. Before joining NFU Mutual RMS, Fox spent five years working for an NHS organisation as head of health & safety and risk and security management.

Brierley said: "It’s extremely important that all clients have access to specialist advice. From bespoke cover for large corporates to facilities for SMEs, my job is to make sure that all our clients are aware of their risk exposures and are provided with the cover they need.

“Businesses are increasingly aware that general insurance is of limited value in the context of environmental risks but only a handful of UK brokers have opted to invest in specialist expertise.”

Joe Thelwell, Towergate advisory chief executive officer, commented: “We continue to invest in and improve our client proposition through quality recruits and enhancing our broking offering.

“I am delighted that Jon, David and Mitch have chosen to join Towergate. Their formidable experience will be a real asset to our clients as we help them to incorporate insurance into a broader risk management programme.”

Already registered?

Login to your account

To request a FREE 2-week trial subscription, please signup.
NOTE - this can take up to 48hrs to be approved.

Two Weeks Free Trial

For multi-user price options, or to check if your company has an existing subscription that we can add you to for FREE, please email Elliot Field at efield@newtonmedia.co.uk or Adrian Tapping at atapping@newtonmedia.co.uk