Going Places

Insurer

IGI
IGI Group has has appointed Tony Griffiths to head its new Lime Street office.

Griffiths was a former member of Ace UK's management team.

Amanda Keer and Darren White have also joined IGI as London development underwriters from Ace.

The team, which is focusing on developing broker business in London, brings extensive experience and skills in commercial property and combined package products.

Both Keer and White are responsible for developing London commercial property and casualty business at IGI. Both held senior underwriting roles in Ace European Group.

Brit
Brit Insurance has appointed Mike Thomas as head of strategy and architecture, focusing on operational strategy and target environment.

Also Kay Clancy has joined as head of business Change. Both will report to chief operating officer Kathy Lisson.

Thomas was previously at Barclays, where he was business portfolio director for its UK banking operations.

Clancy also joins from Barclays, where she was head of change implementation support throughout its branch network. She also spent 10 years at Woolwich.

Zenith
Zenith Services UK has appointed Tim Kemp as head of motorcycle.

He will be responsible for managing and growing the Link and Zenith motorcycle product range and managing their key motorcycle broker accounts, including developing new relationships and products.

Kemp has 25 years' experience in the insurance industry, the last 10 of which have been focused on the motorcycle market. He joins from Chaucer Insurance where he was class underwriter - motorcycle.

Tokio Marine
Tokio Marine Europe has appointed two new regional branch managers.

Stephen Oakes has been appointed as regional branch manager - Midlands, in the new Birmingham office.

Robert Armstrong has been appointed as regional branch manager - Scotland, in the new Glasgow office.

Jones will be responsible for the IT and property management strategies. He held senior positions at Royal & SunAlliance and FirstAssist.

NIG
NIG has appointed Peter Lycholat as head of operations North, with overall responsibility for NIG's Glasgow, Ashington, Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds regions.

Lycholat joins from Accenture. He was previously senior manager corporate partnerships at HBOS GI.

Broker

Marsh
Marsh has appointed Jonathan Groves as leader of its UK captive consulting practice. Based in London, Groves will have overall responsibility for new business, team management and the development of captive consulting services.

With over 15 years of experience in the sector, Groves joins Marsh from Ace Risk Management International, where he was a development manager .

Alexander Forbes
Alexander Forbes has appointed Simon Scholfield as regional managing director to establish an expanded North American property team.

Scholfield spent 20 years specialising in the production, design, structuring and placement of major multinational insurance and captive reinsurance programmes. He is a former vice president at Marsh and a former partner with JLT Risk Solutions.

Colemont
Colemont Insurance Brokers announces the addition of Kerry Grinham as director of the executive and professional liability practice in Colemont's niche specialties division.

Grinham has more than 20 years' insurance experience, including expertise in the financial institution bond, commercial crime, professional indemnity, and directors' and officers' liability risks.

Legal

Keoghs
Keoghs has announced the appointment of a new partner and five new associates.

Allison Carr has been promoted to junior equity partner. She joined Keoghs in 2002 and is now a team leader, specialising in high value defendant litigation acting for insurers dealing with road traffic accidents, and employers' and public liability claims.

Rose Dickinson, Deborah Kelly, Caroline Melody, Neil Southern and Catherine Woolham have all achieved promotion as associates.

Weightmans
Weightmans has appointed five new partners. They are: are Michael Green (commercial); Melanie Isherwood (healthcare); Seema Jobanputra (workplace casualty); Sarah Littlemore (healthcare); and Ivor Long (workplace casualty).

The firm has also appointed the following associates: Jill Cox (commercial); Matthew Williamson (property); Catherine Ainsworth (healthcare); Helen McCann (workplace casualty); Ruth Clarke (healthcare); and Giles Kellner (workplace casualty).

Other

Crawford & Co
Crawford & Company has announced two appointments in its global technical services division.

Steve Gainey becomes team leader within the corporate and major incident team based in London. Previously he worked for Teceris on business interruption claims.

Graham Bell joins Crawford's global marineand transportation unit and will deal with major marine claims from the Hull office. Bell is a qualified master mariner with over 21 years' service at sea.

Profile

Bennetts
After spending only months in the director's chair, Kal Samra is already moving up a gear, as she takes on the role of managing director of motorcycle specialist Bennetts.

Samra's new role will see her taking full responsibility for Bennetts, part of the Budget Group of Companies. Responsible for driving the business forward, Samra will also oversee the brand's continued development, which has already seen enormous success, to ensure it continues to maintain its number one position in the market.

Samra comments: "With ambitious growth plans set for the forthcoming year, my priority will be to ensure that we continue to build on the success of the Bennetts' brand and remain a dominant player in the bike market."

Matthew Donaldson, Budget group director, said: "Samra's previous roles within Bennetts mean that she is the perfect choice for managing director, possessing the tools and knowledge to lead the business."