Roy Watkinson, formerly AXA's technical and commercial underwriting director, has joined Ageas as head of commercial pricing and underwriting.

Watkinson left AXA in February following a management shake-up by incoming commercial chief Amanda Blanc. He wil take up his new role at Ageas on 1 August.

In his role at Ageas, a newly-created position, Watkinson will report to Ageas underwriting director Adam Clarke and will be reponsible for over 100 employees.

"The new appointment is a significant demonstration of our commitment to grow our Commercial lines proposition and reflects the value we place on continuing to build solid relations with our brokers," said Clarke in a statement. "Roy joins an already strong Management team and we will benefit considerably from his technical and Commercial expertise and leadership."

Watkinson added: "I look forward to working with the team and to lead what is already a very strong and robust Commercial offering."