Walmsleys Commercial Insurance Brokers
Martin Bellamy and Michael Whittle have completed the purchase of the commercial account from Walmsleys Insurance Brokers in Wigan.

Walmsleys Commercial Insurance BrokersMartin Bellamy and Michael Whittle have completed the purchase of the commercial account from Walmsleys Insurance Brokers in Wigan.Bellamy and Whittle were previously directors of Walmsleys Insurance Brokers, which was acquired by the Swinton Group in December 2002. Walmsleys Insurance Brokers will continue to operate as a personal lines broker.Walmsleys' commercial team will be employed by the new company, which will operate from Walmsleys' former commercial premises and will trade as Walmsleys Commercial Insurance Brokers.

MCEWellingborough-based broker MCE has appointed Karen Cook as renewals manager. Cook, who has 15 years' industry experience, initially joined MCE on a project to spearhead the company's extended opening hours initiative. She has previously held management roles at SDS-Barclays, Premium Search and Swinton Insurance.

SMg Risk SolutionsFolgate broker SMg Risk Solutions has appointed Richard Senior as its new operations director. Senior has over 18 years' industry experience.

Citybond SuretravelCitybond Suretravel has appointed Louise Bryan and Greg Lawson in the new roles of business development and scheme broking managers. Bryan was previously with the Travel Protection Group and, more recently, Travel and General Insurance Co.Lawson has been with Butcher, Robinson and Staples, the Lloyd's broker, for ten years.

The Davis GroupThe Davis Group has made several appointments. Peter Bridges and Bryn Jones have been made directors of Davis Specialist Risks. They will both continue to be based at the group's Dartford office. Mandy Turnbull has taken on the role of director of Davis Corporate Risks and Mel Neale has been promoted to director of Davis Underwriting. Turnbull and Neale are both based at the group's head office in Newmarket.Laura Foster has been appointed as business development consultant for Davis Underwriting. She previously worked for Norwich Union in a similar account management role and will focus on developing broker partner relationships.

Michael Pavey WestinsureGraham Brown has joined Michael Pavey Westinsure in Torquay as a director.Brown was previously a director at Marsh in Exeter. Prior to that he worked at Eagle Star.

MedicashHealth cash plan provider Medicash has appointed a new head of sales and marketing.Peter Lauris has joined the Liverpool-based company after five years as regional sales director for Medical Sickness, Wesleyan Assurance Society's medical and dental subsidiary. He has also held management posts at the Prudential Corporation and the Lloyds Bank Group.

Rural InsuranceDebi Mawer has joined Rural Insurance as a team leader. Mawer has more than 25 years' underwriting experience. She has previously worked at Frizzells, BiB Underwriters, as an operations controller, and most recently Broker Network in Harrogate, where she was appointed to create and manage the underwriting agency.Graeme Glass has joined Rural Insurance as a senior underwriter from Willis Scotland, based in Dundee. Glass has more than 18 years' underwriting experience. Prior to joining Rural Insurance he was an in-house insurance adviser for Scottish Hydro Electric and Scottish & Southern Energy. He has also worked as an underwriter at Royal & SunAlliance in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

UKI PartnershipsUKI Partnerships has appointed Chris Knott as business sector manager of its affinity insurance partnerships sector. Knott previously worked on the strategic development team, responsible for forming insurance and motoring assistance partnerships.In his new role, Knott will be responsible for managing all current affinity schemes as well as developing new partnerships.Knott joined UKI Partnerships in 2001. He was previously a regional sales manager at Marsh.

Hardy UnderwritingEdward Barker has been appointed to the board of Hardy (Underwriting Agencies) Ltd.Barker is the senior marine underwriter for Syndicate 382. He has worked in the London market since 1982. He joined the marine team at Syndicate 382 in 1992 and has been responsible for the cargo and specie accounts since 1998.

Talbot UnderwritingTalbot Underwriting has appointed Darren Redhead as deputy underwriter of Syndicate 1183. Redhead will assume greater responsibility for assisting underwriting director Rupert Atkin with the management of the non-marine classes of business. He will also serve as acting underwriter of the syndicate when Atkin is absent.James Skinner's position as marine deputy to Atkin on 1183 has also been formalised. He will assume additional responsibilities in the management of the marine classes of business, acting as head of the marine team when Atkin is away.

Ascot UnderwritingAscot Underwriting has appointed Andrew Brooks, an underwriter on its Reith syndicate, to its board of directors.Brooks has more than 20 years' market experience, and was part of the team that founded Ascot Underwriting in 2001. He continues to serve as one of the syndicate's deputy underwriters, with oversight responsibility for the management of the syndicate's underwriting.

Capital LawCapital Law has appointed chartered accountant Langley Davies as its new chairman.Davies has more than 20 years of business and corporate finance experience. He was previously the managing director of Park Holdings, a national motor finance business, which he founded in 1993. He will advise the board of Capital Law on issues such as finance and corporate structure as well as focusing on its business development strategy.

EurobaseEurobase has appointed Tony Tarquini as business development director.He has joined from CSC, where he was business development director. Prior to that he was marketing manager for SectorNet.

MarshMarsh has appointed Michael Beckett as leader of its newly formed charities and non profit organisations practice.Based in the firm's Redhill office, Beckett's immediate focus for 2004 is establishing the new practice and working with the non-profit sector to develop solutions for risk management and risk financing, particularly for charities and organisations involved in international aid and development.Beckett was previously a director at Willis, where he spent 15 years in Dublin, Kingston and London. He also worked with international government bodies and aid agencies, helping them to develop risk management strategies and risk financing programmes, most notably working with the UN and its specialised agencies.

Chem-Dry UKChem-Dry UK has appointed Mark Taylor as the new chief executive. Taylor was previously the managing director of one of the franchised companies in the Chem-Dry network. Additionally, he was a director of a regional management facilities company based in the North.

HelphireHelphire Group has appointed Maurice Power as national sales manager. Power joined Helphire in February 1996 in North London. He was then promoted to regional sales manager for the Midlands in 1999, and in 2001, following company restructuring, managed the sales team in the East.

Company focusManagement appointments at Allianz Global RisksAllianz Global Risks (AGR) UK has appointed John Pickersgill as national broker manager, based in London. Pickersgill was previously development manager within Allianz Cornhill Commercial. He will take responsibility for the management and development of the national broker channel for AGR. Prior to joining Allianz in 2001, Pickersgill held sales and management roles with Independent and Zurich Commercial.AGR has also appointed Nick Hobbs as head of channel management. Hobbs was previously the head of business development with AGR. His responsibilities will encompass national broker management, product development and structured risk solutions. Hobbs joined Allianz in 2001 as national broker manager for Allianz Cornhill. Before that he worked in risk solutions at CGU.AGR has appointed Nigel Brand as manager of D&O. Brand previously worked for SVB at Lloyd's. He has 20 years' industry experience.

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