Going Places

Company focusTalbot Underwriting appoints chief operating officerTalbot Underwriting, the Lloyd's specialty insurer, has appointed Gilles Bonvarlet to the newly-created position of chief operating officer. Bonvarlet was most recently managing director of XL London Market, where he was employed for ten years. He will take up his position at Talbot in November.The company said the creation of this position would add greater breadth and depth to the leadership team at Talbot. Chief executive Michael Carpenter will remain responsible for the overall management of the company, including relationships with regulators, capital providers and other key stakeholders. Reporting to him, Rupert Atkin continues to be responsible for all underwriting, and Gilles Bonvarlet will have responsibility for all operations. The appointment is subject to the FSA and Lloyd's approval.

FMWScott Lester has been appointed marketing coordinator by Chelmsford-based brokers FMW.Lester has previously worked for Aon and Thomas Miller & Co. He will be working with Emma Dowsing, another newly-appointed marketing coordinator.

AE Taylor Insurance Manchester-based AE Taylor Insurance has appointed Justin Holder as an account handler in its commercial division.Holder will be responsible for servicing the needs of an existing panel of corporate clients. He has five years' experience with brokers in the Manchester market.

Select & ProtectSelect & Protect, a provider of general insurance through financial advisers, has appointed Angela Robertson as agency manager responsible for general insurance business in East Anglia.Robertson joins from Legal & General Insurance.

Riverbourne GroupCorporate insurance broker Riverbourne Group has made two new appointments at the company's Surrey office. Becky Newman and Alex Barnes have both joined the group as new business account executives. Newman has seven years' experience in the industry from a broking background and joins the group from Helm, where she was a new business client executive.Barnes has nine years' experience in the industry from both a broking and insurer background. He joins the group from Norwich Union, where he was an underwriter working from the company's Brighton office. Both will be responsible for the development of target markets across the South of England.

Pendleton MayGuildford-based broker Pendleton May has appointed Bob Tree as director. Tree will be responsible for existing client services and new business development, with the aim of strengthening Pendleton May's insurance broking arm in the removals and storage sector.He was previously deputy managing director at Willis Transportation Risks, and has more than 25 years of experience with the group's handling transportation business.

Jardine Lloyd ThompsonJardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT) has appointed ex-Marsh chief executive Mike Hammond as chief executive of the company's Risk Solutions Group.Hammond's move is part of a restructuring of the group. Dominic Collins will become chairman of JLT Risk Solutions, replacing John Lloyd, who will stand down as chairman.

The Jelf GroupThe Jelf Group has appointed John Harding as group finance and operations director, reporting directly to Alex Alway, group chief executive. In his new role, Harding will assume responsibility for the finance and IT functions. He will also oversee the infrastructure of the company's various offices and will play a role in business acquisitions. Harding worked for Binder Hamlyn before moving to Sun Life in 1982, where he held a number of senior roles, including head of internal audit, head of group finance and finance director within broker sales. In 2002, he set up his own consultancy and worked with The Jelf Group on a number of strategic projects, as well as providing management resource for the company's healthcare business.

Esure Esure has appointed Mark Foulsham as head of IT. Foulsham will be responsible for IT strategy, development, support and services. He joins esure from Macquarie Bank, where he was director of IT for a number of UK subsidiaries including South East Water. Previous to this, he worked in the French Group SAUR and international consultancy, Atkins. Foulsham has 15 years of IT and business experience.

Max ReBermuda-based insurer and reinsurer Max Re Capital has appointed Peter Minton to its board of directors. Minton currently serves as executive vice president and chief risk officer of the company's principal operating subsidiary, Max Re Ltd. Max Re has also renewed the contract of Robert Cooney to serve as its chairman, president and chief executive for a further five-year term.

Ace Ace European Group has appointed Paul Williams as commercial underwriter to supplement the team in Manchester.Williams joins Ace following a career with Royal & SunAlliance, and will underwrite commercial property and casualty risks within the region.

Royal & SunAllianceRoyal & SunAlliance has appointed Mark Chambers as general counsel and group company secretary with effect from October 2004.Chambers' appointment will follow the retirement of Jan Miller as group company secretary.Chambers joins from American Express, where he was managing counsel for Europe, Middle East & Africa from January 2003. Prior to that he spent seven years with GE, starting in 1996, holding a number of senior positions within the consumer finance and insurance businesses.

NFU MutualNFU Mutual has appointed Allan Clare as counter fraud controller. Clare joined NFU Mutual from loss adjuster GAB Robins where he was investigation services manager.

Norwich UnionGraham Boffey has been promoted to managing director of Norwich Union Healthcare. Boffey replaces Cathryn Riley, who has been promoted to executive chairman of Norwich Union Healthcare and business services director at Norwich Union Life. Prior to his promotion, Boffey spent two years as partnerships director at Norwich Union Insurance. He will be replaced by David McMillan, who is currently director of retail bank partnerships for NU.Boffey joined Norwich Union in July 1998 from Barclays Bank and before that worked for IBM for ten years. He has held a number of roles at Norwich Union, including head of group purchasing, director of purchasing, director of claims sourcing and supply, before his appointment to partnerships director in 2002.

Helphire GroupHelphire Group has appointed Jim Muir as area sales manager for Scotland.Muir previously worked as regional sales manager for Centrus until the company closed earlier this year. He joined Centrus in 1992 in the operations department and by 1999 was running a branch before transferring to sales.

Garlands Call CentresGarlands Call Centres has appointed Ron Coleman as its new head of management information systems. Coleman joins Garlands with more than 19 years' private and public sector experience of delivering IT solutions in customer services. He will manage all aspect of Garlands' information systemsHe previously worked for the Department of Work and Pensions, where he was responsible for overseeing an absence management process for 4,500 personnel as well as for generating key performance and absence data.

Begbies TraynorIndependent corporate recovery and insolvency firm Begbies Traynor has appointed Neil Mather as director. Mather joins the firm's new insurance insolvency and financial services team. He is a licensed insolvency practitioner and chartered accountant with thirteen years' corporate rescue experience.He joins from Deloitte, where he worked since qualifying as an accountant in 1990.Mather's appointment follows that of Christopher Morris as partner in January.

AquiloAquilo plc has appointed Crispin Burdett as company secretary with effect from 31 July 2004.

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