Former Towergate colleague joins Amanda Blanc as managing director, intermediary; 110 jobs could go as new structure announced; Blanc speaks on video
AXA commercial chief executive Amanda Blanc has appointed Matthew Reed, former chief executive of Powerplace, as AXA’s managing director, intermediary and partnerships.
Blanc has also revealed that around 110 jobs in AXA commercial are at risk of redundancy as part of her restructure.
Reed reported to Blanc in their former roles, he as chief executive of Powerplace, she as deputy chief executive of parent company Towergate. Blanc left Towergate in November, Reed in January.
New top team
In an exclusive interview with Insurance Times, Blanc said: “This is an exceptional appointment. When Matthew resigned from Towergate, we were all sitting eagerly to see what would happen. Fortunately Matthew approached us. He had a number of role offers – we were competing with others and we were really fortunate to be able to get him.”
Reed joins Blanc’s top team, commercial director Alistair Stewart, appointed from the CII, claims and underwriting director David Williams and Bluefin chief executive Stuart Reid.
Appointments from Towergate
Asked whether any she could make any other appointments from Towergate, Blanc said: “I can’t approach anyone at Towergate for the first 12 months. When exceptional people become available in the market and they are directly approaching me then that is different. I honestly don’t know at this point.”
Speaking about her new team, Blanc, who has been in post at AXA since February 14, said: “We’re good to go – I’ve filled the structure, with a really good combination of great internal people and some external blood to give a different perspective on things.”
Redundancies
Longstanding head of underwriting Roy Watkinson left AXA earlier this year. Blanc said there had not yet been any other departures, but that around 70 people were at risk of redundancy, adding: “The biggest impact is in management in the branches and in head office teams.
“We are part way through a consultation process, we are bringing together the branch structure of sales and underwriting with one P&L across the UK. There will be a number of roles affected by that announcement. The best way to put it is that about 96% of the front line trading roles are unaffected – my commitment is that I will not destruct customer relationships through this process.”
Going for growth
Blanc also outlined her plans for major growth at AXA. She said it would come through a combination of doing more business in established areas, and new products and lines. She pledged not to drive rates down, saying: “I think we can achieve profitable growth. It will not be a hockey stick – it will not all happen in the next 12 months. We’ll do it carefully in clear segments with strong underwriting analysis, and I think we will do it very well.”
Click here to read the full interview with Amanda Blanc and find out why she left Towergate for AXA.
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