Going Places

BiB GroupDenis Pinnegar has joined the BiB Group, based in Darlington, as director of group development.Pinnegar is a founder director of the Manufacturing Challenge and past chairman of the Northern Growth Forum. He ran his own business in the North East until two years ago, when he moved to a more international role within the manufacturing and distribution sector.

Letsure Residential lettings insurance and risk specialist Letsure has appointed Tim Wakelin as business-to-business relationship director and Michael Portman as development director.Wakelin has worked for Letsure for eight years. He has 20 years' experience of the residential property market, including time spent running his own letting and management business and as a manager for estate agencies including Ellis & Co and Adam Kennedy.Portman, who previously worked at Marsh, is a chartered surveyor. He has ten years' experience in residential and commercial property insurance.

ET KnaggSarah Darbyshire has joined ET Knagg's commercial team.She will assist in the administration and servicing of new and existing clients at the Fylde-based commercial brokerage.

Budget RetailBudget Retail has appointed Paul Shipley to the newly-created role of senior manager, niche markets. Shipley will be responsible for establishing new niche market units for the division. He previously worked for Swinton for more than 30 years in a variety of roles, most recently as head of acquisitions. Before this, he held the positions of head of retail and manager of franchise operations, as well as having responsibility for setting up Swinton's specialist taxi and motor home unit.

Groupama Louise Austin has joined Groupama as key account manager for the North East.Servicing a panel of key intermediary partners, Austin is responsible for the profitable growth of Groupama's business in the region. She joined Groupama from AXA, where she was responsible for building business with the company's larger personal lines partners. Her previous experience includes personal lines underwriting at Equity Red Star and front-line business development responsibilities at CGNU.

Legal & GeneralLegal & General has made two appointments to its general insurance operation's senior management team.Peter Richmond is appointed business development director. His new role will encompass direct responsibility for all general insurance distribution channels, marketing and business systems. He was formerly operations and business systems director.Andrew Dawson has joined Legal & General as operations director for general insurance. Dawson has joined from Marks & Spencer Financial Services and has previously worked for Independent Insurance and Royal & SunAlliance in a variety of senior underwriting and business management roles.Both Dawson and Richmond will report to managing director Ian Viney of Legal & General's general insurance operation.

Allianz Global RisksAllianz Global Risks has appointed Shaun Edwards as head of client management, based in London. Edwards joins the company from Willis, where he was responsible for global client development, servicing and broking.Working closely with client relationship managers throughout the business, Edwards will help drive client solutions and increase Allianz Global Risks' profile in the major corporate sector.

Aspen Insurance UKAspen Insurance UK (Aspen Re) has promoted Ian Campbell to the position of finance director and appointed him to the UK board.Campbell, formerly assistant finance director of Aspen Re, takes over as finance director from Julian Cusack, group chief financial officer, who remains on the UK board. Campbell has 15 years of experience in the insurance industry. He joined Aspen Re in November 2003 from Cox Insurance, where he was group financial controller for five years. Prior to Cox, he was at KPMG from 1985 to 1998, where he was a principal consultant in the insurance consulting department.

Norwich UnionNorwich Union has appointed Paul Murphy as underwriting manager for casualty specialist classes.Murphy was promoted from his previous role as senior property underwriter, where he worked in the industrial segment team for two years.In his new role, Murphy will take responsibility for group PA, professional indemnity, contingency and guarantee and legal expenses business. He will be based in Norwich Union's Fenchurch Street offices in London.

SVB Holdings SVB Holdings has appointed two directors, Jeremy Adams and Peter Matson (left) to its board.Adams is chief executive of SVB's Lloyd's managing agency subsidiary, SVB Syndicates, as well as group risk officer. He joined the group in October 2001. Prior to joining SVB, Adams worked for Willis and Trenwick.Matson was founding director and chief underwriter of PRI Group. Before setting up PRI, Matson was active underwriter at Denham Syndicate 990, specialising in professional indemnity. Matson joined SVB in January 2004.

AXA InsuranceAXA Insurance has appointed Laurent Matras as finance business partner and he will join the AXA Insurance executive.Laurent has been with AXA for ten years. He has spent three years as head of actuarial and is currently head of personal lines underwriting.Neil Perry will be moving to AXA UK to the role of deputy group financial controller, reporting to group financial controller Bob Ewers. Perry is currently head of financial planning and analysis at AXA Insurance. His new responsibilities will include working with the finance business partners to maximise the financial performance of AXA's UK and Ireland business units.

Aon Re InternationalAon Re International has appointed Richard Posgate as group operations director.Posgate joined the company in 1995, helping to establish Aon Re UK. His new responsibilities will include structuring the organisation around its clients, in addition to partnering with a global company while maintaining strong local relationships. He will report to Aon Re International's chairman and chief executive Clement Booth.The company also announced that Stuart Bowman has been appointed financial controller. Bowman, who has worked for the group for 27 years, will also join the board.

James Chapman & Co.Manchester-based insurance litigation practice James Chapman & Co. has appointed James Dadge as a partner in its personal injury department.Dadge joined the firm in 2002 and he specialises in catastrophic injury claims, particularly in the area of structured settlements.

Misys Financial SystemsMisys Financial Systems has made several new sales appointments. James McGhie, Steven Carroll and John Roberts have joined Misys Financial Systems as account managers.McGhie has joined Misys from a sales position at Siemens. He is responsible for the South West and South Wales regions. Roberts previously worked for Notability, an IT facilities management company. At Misys he manages the East Midlands region. Carroll was formerly an account manager for ICM Computer Group. He is now responsible for the East Anglia and North East London areas.Ian Balfour and Marc Driscoll have been internally appointed to account management roles. Richard Sharratt and Justin Smith join the team as express sales consultants.Biba
Biba has appointed Steve White to its members services team as regulation and compliance manager.White will be assisted by Branko Bjelobaba and RWA, helping members with a range of regulation and compliance issues.White has 26 years' industry experience. He has joined Biba from the FSA, where he worked in the policy and technical standards department within the high street firms division. He has also previously worked at GISC, AXA and Orion Insurance. The Rubicon Corporation
The Rubicon Corporation has appointed Tracy Harvey-Bussell as its group compliance officer. Harvey-Bussell will lead the existing compliance team and assumes overall responsibility for ensuring group-wide compliance with FSA regulations.Her previous roles include director of compliance at Hogg Robinson, compliance officer for Sun Alliance Insurance Group and committee secretary at the London Stock Exchange. She is a co-founder of the Greyfriars Group on compliance, which she chaired for three years. She also chaired the southern region of the Compliance Institute.Tillinghast
Towers Perrin has appointed Michael Johnson as a senior consultant in its insurance and financial services consultancy business, Tillinghast. Johnson's responsibilities include developing the firm's involvement with analytical support to structured finance and securitisation, particularly of alternative assets.He has more than 20 years of capital markets experience, most recently within the area of structured finance. Prior to working at Tillinghast he was a director at HSBC, where he was responsible for the structuring of securitisations across a range of conventional and alternative asset classes.

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