2024 Speakers

Dave Martin joined Aviva in April 2023 as Managing Director, UK Commercial and Chief Distribution Officer, and sits on the UKGI Executive Committee. Dave is responsible for setting and leading the strategic direction of Distribution and responsible for driving profitable growth in our UK Commercial business across Digital SME and Mid-Market.

Dave has spent 34 years in the insurance industry in a number of roles, having started as an apprentice handling personal motor in Bristol. Most recently Dave was Head of Retail Management at Zurich where he led the Personal Lines, Direct, Digital and Mid Commercial businesses.

Sarah joined AXA UK in October 2021 as Commercial Distribution and Trading Director. In this role she leads the Commercial distribution team responsible for broker relationship development across all trading teams and the mid-market business traded through AXA’s branch network.

With over 20 years’ experience in senior claims and distribution roles, Sarah has a passion for delivering customer and broker excellence through digital transformation, technical expertise and broker partnerships.  This has helped  AXA achieve a gold Investors in Customers award (2023) and 2024 Commercial Insurer of the year at the coveted British Insurance Awards.      

Nick Hobbs became the Director of Broker Markets, Commercial & Personal, in November 2016 having formerly been the Head of Strategic Account Management, Commercial and Personal. He is responsible for Allianz’s London Region, Broker Distribution Management and jointly responsible for the Commercial Broker Markets business.  

Nick has been with Allianz group since 2001 and with Allianz UK since 2011. Prior to joining Allianz UK he undertook various roles in AGCS (Allianz Global Corporate & Speciality) in the UK, Europe and North America.

Jo Sykes is the divisional director of UK broker channel for Markel, with a clear focus on driving digital transformation, developing broker relationships, and delivering profitable underwriting results. With a wealth of experience in the industry, her commercial focus is a key driver to Markel’s growth ambitions and ongoing dedication to better support brokers and customers. Jo has the responsibility of delivering Markel’s innovative SME products and services, helping brokers achieve business-changing growth for their customers, backed by a 5-star rated commercial lines insurer with a truly people-first approach.

David is Distribution & Proposition Director at RSA Insurance, working across the Commercial Lines and Specialty Lines businesses, in a role he started in May. Prior to this he was Head of Strategic Broker Relationships, Marketing & Propositions at NIG Commercial.  David has over 35 years’ financial services experience in both insurance and banking, starting his career with Commercial Union (now Aviva) followed by spells at Independent, Nationwide Building Society, Bank of Ireland, and Aspen.  David is a Chartered Insurer and in his spare time enjoys travelling with his family and the ups and downs of supporting Aston Villa.

Lisa has 30+ years of financial services experience including roles at RBS and Credit Suisse. Lisa’s responsibilities as a regulator, including with predecessor organisations, IMRO and FSA, have primarily been in supervision, covering investment management, deposit takers, life insurance and most recently general insurance firms. Lisa has led the Retail General Insurance Supervision Department during the implementation of the General Insurance Pricing Practice rules and Consumer Duty. 

David was appointed to head of retail in January 2023 and is responsible for our Personal Lines, Commercial SME and Mid-Market propositions. 

David's been with Zurich for over 20 years and joined our Executive team in 2026 as our UKGI Chief Operations Officer, before moving to our UK Claims team as Chief Claims officer in 2017.

David's breadth of strategic and operational expertise, strong customer and broker focus, and passion for continuous improvement, whilst using technology, has resulted in great customer and broker outcomes in the roles he's held at Zurich. 

Before joining Zurich, David spent time at Aviva and held several senior positions. 

Neil Peters serves as VP, National Director, Branch Network for Arch UK Regional Division with responsibility for the 10 Regional Trading offices.

Neil joined Arch in January 2019 when it purchased the UK Regional Division from the Ardonagh Group. When Neil joined Arch he held the position of Regional Director, South, responsible for four Branches in the South of England.

He has 30 years’ experience in leadership, development and underwriting roles for Ardonagh, RSA, Fusion Insurance Services, Independent Insurance Co. and Commercial Union. 

Paul has been an insurance broker for over 30 years and is Group Chief Executive Officer of Seventeen Group, which owns James Hallam Insurance Brokers, Touchstone Underwriting and London Re

Seventeen Group is passionately independent and employs over 350 staff throughout the UK. All of the shareholders and Directors of Seventeen Group are actively involved in the business and from the insurance profession by background.

Paul was previously a BIBA main board member and Chaired the BIBA Insurance Brokers Standards Committee. He currently sits on the board of Una Alliance which is a non-profit making company owned by its insurance broker members.

Outside of business, Paul is married with 4 children and lives near Devizes in Wiltshire. He has been involved in coaching and leadership training on a voluntary basis for a number of years and is a Saracens rugby supporter, fisherman and sometime golfer.  
 

David joined BIBA’s main Board in August 2023 following his appointment as Regulation Director.  He has more than 40 years of experience in the insurance industry and since 2002 has focused on insurance broking compliance. During that time David led a group's firms through FSA authorisation, as well as providing technical compliance advice to over 150 firms, from the international to the very small, on UK regulations.

Joining BIBA in 2013, he brought a 'regulatory mindset' to his role, having spent a number of years at the Financial Services Authority.

Nick is Director of the London/Head office of The Clear Group. Clear are a leading UK independent and chartered insurance brokers, placing in excess of £300M of premiums for commercial and personal clients. With 19 UK locations and over 650 staff, Clear offer a comprehensive insurance advisory service, from insurance program design and risk management to claims administration. Nick has over 28 years' experience as an insurance broker and adviser, specialising in the construction and engineering sectors. He has advised on the insurance requirements for many well known businesses, for major London and UK infrastructure projects and manages 11 broking teams, both in the Company market and at Lloyd's.

With experience in the industry spanning 30 years, Scott started his career at a local brokerage in Doncaster via a YTS scheme. He has built significant industry knowledge and connections through several regional and national roles and has worked in the network arena for more than 13 years.
Prior to joining Bravo Networks, Scott spent eight years working in Towergate in several senior sales roles. As Managing Director of Bravo Networks, Scott prioritises supporting regional brokers across the UK by using his significant relationships with insurers and providers across the industry to drive forward positive opportunities, while also shaping member propositions that help grow, protect, and support brokers’ businesses.
 

Paul Farmer is the Head of Technical Risk Engineering and Surveys at RiskSTOP.

Paul has 30 years experience in the insurance industry and began his career as a loss adjuster before moving into risk prevention, management and engineering. He has held key roles, such as Global Practice Lead and Senior Technical Risk Engineer at Zurich and was a Senior Consultant Risk Engineer at Tokio Marine.

His expertise in risk management is complemented by a passion for developing soft skills among colleagues, enhancing risk mitigation strategies. Paul is committed to innovation and team development at RiskSTOP, and is widely recognised for his knowledge of emerging issues such as solar panel fires, EV charging and li-ion battery risks. 

Paul founded The Green Insurer in 2023 after realising that there was a gap in the market for people who want help to drive in a more sustainable way.  The Green Insurer is the only car insurance provider to off-set all miles driven and to reward customers for driving in a more sustainable, fuel-efficient manner.  Prior to this, Paul has spent far too many years working in the insurance industry in companies such as Direct Line, Marmalade and Chaucer in both UK and overseas.  Outside work, Paul loves the great outdoors and he walked the 284 miles of the Pennine Way in 2020.  Whilst not working, he is kept busy by his 5 children.

Damian is CEO of MLP, a business specialising delivering operational Machine Learning products to the Insurance Industry.

He has worked in the Insurance Industry for over 18 years both as a Broker, an MGA as well as launching and growing Insurtech businesses.

Managing director of Render an innovative payment solutions business, providing card processing and premium finance to the insurance market. Previous roles include Head of Data Science at Capital on Tap, Associate Partner at McKinsey & Principal at Oliver Wyman. I have worked with a global set of clients, from banking to retailers, providing strategic, analytical and technological support. I have a PhD and MSc in Complexity Science, and a BSc in Mathematics, all from the University of Warwick

With over 25+ years in insurance technology, Peter heads up the Research and Development function at Open GI. Prior to this, Peter was at Transactor spearheading numerous innovations including The Insurer Cloud. Peter has a strong philosophy of fostering a culture of innovation and experimentation,  empowering customers to push boundaries and use technology to solve real problems.

Chris is the Managing Director for Cyber at Travelers Insurance. Responsible for growing the cyber portfolio and ensuring its place in offering a market leading product supported by first class incident response, and pre loss service proposition. With over 20 years of experience in the insurance industry, Chris has worked with some of the largest specialist carriers in the market. Prior to joining Travelers Chris was a Cyber Product Manager covering UKI, Continental Europe, Latin America and Asia Pacific providing expertise and gaining insight into Cyber Insurance markets worldwide

Jonathan Evans is a seasoned insurance industry professional with over two decades of experience in broking, underwriting and insurtech. As the founder of Sustain Insurance Brokers, he is at the forefront of integrating Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles into insurance practices. With a strong background in risk management and a keen eye for emerging trends, Jonathan has successfully launched and scaled multiple insurance-related ventures. Jonathan's current focus on sustainable insurance practices positions him as a thought leader in addressing climate change risks and promoting social responsibility within the industry. His diverse experience and entrepreneurial spirit make him uniquely qualified to discuss the evolving landscape of ESG in insurance and its impact on brokers' strategies and their resultant profitability