Georgina Davis: Making a mark on regional growth and future leaders

Since her promotion in May this year to lead the regional market for the Midlands, south west and Wales, few would argue that Georgina Davis has not already made her mark at Zurich.

When she was appointed, Davis became the youngest regional head ever appointed by Zurich, at just 28 years old. She is one of four regional heads for the insurer, who report in to head of retail commercial, Morgan Lyons.

Since taking up her new role she has had to contend with the trials and tribulations that accompany a softening market, which she admits is a challenge “there’s no getting away from”, but this has only made her more eager to flourish.

Speaking exclusively to Insurance Times, Davis reveals that her division has written over 30% more business this year to October than it did in all of 2024.

She believes that these results are a “testament to the work and innovation” her team of nearly 60 underwriters, leadership and sales staff have achieved in such a short period of time.

Davis says: “We have to be super vigilant to not leave a stone unturned when it comes to trailing and defending our existing book.

“But myself and the team are super competitive – we want to win.”

Brokering trust

At the heart of this success is a team with passion and a “shared vision” for building trust with brokers, Davis explains.

With market conditions currently far from plain sailing, Davis says that it is important “now, more than ever” to be the go-to for brokers and prioritise responding to enquiries within 24 hours.

Further, she stresses that it is her mission is to ensure “our brokers face into a Zurich team” so that they are “one Zurich team to brokers”.

A key part of delivering that vision is the Broker Spotlight Series – an initiative Davis has led from the outset in her position.

The series involves monthly engagement sessions with the regional team, in which different brokers are invited to present a week in the life of a broker to support building empathy and trust across both broker and insurer camps.

She continues: “It has really helped trading conversations and has also helped our underwriters and team realise the importance of being visible in the market – picking up the phone or having face-to-face conversations – because of how much our brokers are dealing with on a daily basis and how important it is to service their customers.”

Hometown glory

Having been promoted from her position as Zurich’s head of broker proposition and distribution, which she had held since April 2023, Davis’ turn to a regional role placed her back in her hometown – Birmingham.

And, for Davis, the importance of “local presence and strong relationships” across her regions cannot be understated.

She says: “We want our team to feel like a true extension of our broker’s teams. However, local dynamics do mean that we can’t take a one-size-fits-all approach.

“We invest in local relationships and empower our teams to adapt our products and services. We combine the strength and reliability of our teams with a deep understanding of what is making each of the regions tick.”

The breadth of different businesses across sectors is a point of excitement for Davis as she looks to support a “buzzing economy across that whole region”.

For example, she explains that Birmingham is an expanding hub for financial services and digital industries, which it is essential underwriters are equipped to deal with.

Meanwhile, across the south west, she says there are separate nuances in the economy driven by tourism, retail and smaller businesses, which prioritise local underwriting expertise that can respond quickly to seasonal or sector-specific needs.

“Bristol is one that I’m super proud of. We opened our Bristol office in 2023 to be closer to brokers in that space, because local presence is so important,” she adds.

“This year we have grown great guns and we’ve moved into a bigger office space – we’ve recruited more underwriters and we’ve broadened our sales team.”

‘Age is not a barrier’

Davis’ move into a regional management role has also shone a spotlight onto the talent gap outside of the London market.

And as an example of successful young leadership herself, it is no surprise that Davis sees this shortage “both as an opportunity and a threat”.

She says: “That is something that I’m passionate about doing as we move into next year. I know there’s some people across the midlands, south western and Welsh markets, and across both insurers and brokers, that are aligned in those thoughts”

Fostering and developing future leaders is a collective responsibility for the industry, she adds, if the sector is to “bust the absolute myth that working in insurance is boring” and instead show that it is “the backbone of industry”.

However, Davis admits that she “fell” into insurance like many other entrants – a phrase that she uses reluctantly “because it creates the wrong perception”.

Davis moved into the insurance sector in 2018 as a client relationship administrator for Vulcan Inspection Services, owned by British Engineering Services, and rose up the ranks to group head of broker and affinity partnership four years later.

She stresses that, as soon as she got into insurance, it was the ability to “drive positive change and innovation” in any kind of role that kept her pushing for progress in her career.

For this reason, Davis welcomes the polarising opinions that the title youngest ever regional head has spawned, as “if it shows the young generation what’s possible, I’m all for it”.

“I’m hoping to show the younger generation that age is not a barrier,” she continues.

“If you’re right for the job and you work hard – age doesn’t need to come into it. But, there is a very good reason to showcase that a young person is doing it because of the skills gap that we’ve got, where younger people are not joining the industry.”

Leading by example

From a senior leadership perspective, Davis says that the sector’s lack of gender parity also remains notable because of “barriers that still exist”. 

She adds: ”That can mean that women still have to work harder to prove themselves in the workplace. There’s a reality that having a family can impact a woman more in terms of maternity leave and the impacts on career that come with that”.

However, Davis notes that, when she was preparing to take on a leadership position at Zurich a couple of years ago, she got involved with an external women’s insurance network designed to support women in the industry.

She explains that these networking groups enabled her to talk to women across the UK and showcase how creating a strong support network of allies in the workplace can have a big impact on women’s success.

Noting an abundance of internal gender equality networks across different businesses, Davis believes that a focus on industry-wide collaboration is needed, “whether it be finding allies and mentors” with different industry roles and experiences or “whether it be educating and bringing people into the conversation”.

“Some of the leaders that I’ve worked with over the years that have led and guided me, the impact that they’ve had on my career has been huge,” she concludes.

“I’ve always really liked the idea of being that person for others and for the team that I’m leading – that has motivated me to be in leadership. I feel passionate about acting as a role model for young women starting out in the industry.”