Going Places

Company focusKey appointments at Budget Chris Samuel has been promoted to senior manager, customer insight at Budget. Samuel will be responsible for the coordination and development of the group's approach to the customer, across acquisition, development and retention. He joined Budget in 2001 as marketing communications manager and he has nine years' marketing experience. Antony Osborne has joined Budget as senior manager, household products.Osborne has 15 years' industry experience. Prior to joining Budget, he was household broker product and pricing manager at NIG and Churchill. Pui Au-Yeung has joined Budget Retail as financial controller. Au-Yeung was previously financial controller at GE Life.

Brokers

UKI PartnershipsUKI Partnerships has appointed Peter Shilleto as marketing intelligence executive.Shilleto is currently working across insurance partnership clients including Virgin Money and Lloyds TSB.He previously worked in insurance products and pricing for UKI and has assisted with the integration of Churchill Insurance partnership schemes over the past year.

Blyth ValleyNeedham Market-based professional insurance broker Blyth Valley has made two new appointments to its in-house IT team. Susie Young, ICT assistant, joins Blyth Valley from Churchill Insurance in Ipswich.Ian Whittle is working at Blyth Valley during his third-year placement as part of a multimedia communications Bsc at The University of Bournemouth.

Cooper GayThe Cooper Gay Group has created a North American treaty division and named two senior executives to establish the operation.Nick Newman and Judith Benson have joined Cooper Gay as executive vice president and senior vice president respectively, to manage the new business from its North American headquarters, based in New York.Newman has more than 30 years of reinsurance brokerage experience and Benson has 30 years' experience in casualty and property treaty broking.

Motor Trade SolutionsMotor Trade Solutions has appointed Liliana Dowdall and Mike Barnett. Both have joined the company from Hill House Hammond and will be based at Motor Trade Solutions' head office premises in Purley. Dowdall worked for the Norwich Union Group for more than 20 years in branch and area sales manager positions. She joins Motor Trade Solutions as process manager. Barnett was also formerly branch sales manager at Hill House Hammond. At Motor Trade Solutions he will be supervising the company's sales team.

MarshMarsh has appointed Ron Thomson as branch director. Thomson will focus on developing Marsh's corporate client practice business in the Aberdeen area.He joins from Aon in Aberdeen, where he was the corporate business unit director.

Insurers

ITICMutual insurer International Transport Intermediaries Club (ITIC) has elected Harry Gilbert, a director of Wallem, as its chairman.Gilbert replaces Paul Vogt, who will retire after the club's annual meeting in December, having served as chairman since the club was founded in 1992.Alan Marsh, chief executive of Braemar Seascope; and Roger Swann, chief executive of British Maritime Technology will also be joining the board of ITIC.

ZurichZurich Municipal has appointed Steve Jackson to the newly-created role of national fraud controller, in a move to stamp out public sector fraud.Prior to his appointment, Jackson worked for both Capita Insurance Services and Cunningham Lindsey as a special investigator.Before moving into the role of investigating potentially fraudulent insurance claims, he spent 20 years in the Lancashire Constabulary.

GE Financial InsuranceGE Financial Insurance has made some changes to its management team. Chris Smith has become IT leader. In his new role Smith will develop and manage the infrastructure strategy across 13 European countries and identify IT solutions for streamlining business performance. He held several senior management positions in the insurance industry, before joining GE in 1997.Seamus Fitzgerald has been appointed international operations manager. Fitzgerald has been with GE Financial Insurance for six years, during which time he has held finance management roles.

Premium finance

Aascent Commercial premium finance provider Aascent has appointed Philip Dalgity as account executive for Northern Ireland.Dalgity was previously with Colliers Cre NI, based in Belfast. In his newly-created role at Aascent, he will work with commercial insurance brokers in the region to grow existing premium finance accounts and develop new relationships.

Technology

Sequel Business SolutionsSequel Business Solutions, a software supplier to the London market, has appointed Rob Downes as customer delivery manager. Downes gained six years' experience with Markel International. At Sequel Business Solutions he will be responsible for the project management and delivery of a number of new and existing client projects.

Legal

James Chapman & CoSpecialist insurance litigation firm James Chapman & Co has appointed three trainees.Katherine Duffy, Chris Eccles and Sally Grimes have begun their two-year training contracts with the firm.Duffy is a graduate of Newcastle University, Eccles studied at Swansea University and Grimes studied at the University of Manchester. Eccles joined the firm as a paralegal 12 months ago.

Clyde & CoInternational law firm Clyde & Co has appointed reinsurance lawyer Stephen Lewis. Lewis will be joining the firm's insurance and reinsurance group as a consultant. He joins from Clifford Chance, where he was a partner in the firm's insurance/reinsurance practice. Based at Clyde & Co's London office, he will specialise in insurance/reinsurance, arbitration, litigation and advisory work.

Other

Winchester WhiteSpecialist financial services management consultancy Winchester White has appointed Katy White as consultant. White joins from Allianz Cornhill, where she has held a number of roles including marketing co-ordinator within the commercial lines marketing department and small commercial business account underwriter. In her new role she will be working with clients from the general insurance, life and pensions and retail investment sectors.

SubmissionsWe welcome submissions for the Going Places page. Please send details of new appointments to: Going Places, Insurance Times, 30 Cannon Street, London EC4M 6YJ. You can also fax us at 020 7618 3499 or email going.places@instimes.co.uk.Photographic prints must be good quality - scanned digital images must be 300 dpi resolution or above.