Barbican to go it alone at Lloyd's

Lloyd's insurer Barbican has received approval from Lloyd's to launch its own managing agency.

The new agency will manage Barbican's Lloyd's syndicate, 1955, from 1 January next year. The syndicate, which started underwriting in January 2008, is currently managed by Whittington Capital Management.

Syndicate 1955 now writes 10 lines of business and its capacity has increased from £75m in 2008 to £180m for 2011.

“A primary objective has always been to create our own managing agency, and the fact that this has been realised amid challenging trading conditions is a considerable achievement, and testimony to the hard work and dedication of the excellent team we have," said Barbican chief executive David Reeves in a statement. "We also owe thanks to Whittington who helped us into Lloyd’s, steered a steady course for us over the past three years, and helped prepare us for our own agency.”

Stephen Cane, Whittington’s chief executive for Europe, added: "“We are delighted for Barbican and I am also pleased that the expertise and commitment of our own managing agency team played a key role in Barbican’s early development and enabled them to go it alone in 2011. We are confident that Barbican leaves us in good shape and that they will make a valuable contribution to the Lloyd’s franchise.”