In Brief

Aon son goes to Pimms
James Howland-Jackson, son of Aon director and GISC chairman Anthony, is returning to broking with his former employer Pimms after he quit, along with Penny Clay, as contingency underwriter at Euclidian last month. Howland-Jackson previously worked for Pimms, based in the West End, for 15 years.

Ocaso widens network
Household insurance scheme specialist Ocaso has signed up more than 100 new brokers to its UK network since the start of the year, bringing its broker network to more than 600. Earlier this year Ocaso appointed a business producer to generate an increase in sales in the north of England and to build relationships with new brokers.

Appointment at AIFA
Tracey Mullins has been appointed director of public affairs at the Association of Independent Financial Advisers (AIFA). Her role will include work on the association's strategy, developing membership and implementing a programme for the association's contacts with Parliament.

So long Simon says R&R
Simon Horswell, the newly appointed sales director of Rarrigini and Rosso, has been sacked just three months into the job, the company said this week. But Horswell said he would have left anyway. It comes just a month after R&R spent a small fortune on the launch of a new back-office system for brokers, called 24-7 Broking. The Peterborough-based firm, which had a turnover of £2.4m last year, chartered a plane to take an 80-strong party of industry heavyweights and journalists for a two-day trip to Iceland. Horswell was previously at the premium finance house Tifco.

Axa steady as she goes
Axa Group's results in the UK for the first nine months of 2000 saw property and casualty income grow by 2.6% to £1236m. The figure was affected by the run off of certain GRE activities. Excluding this item, premium income for the first nine months of 2000 was up by 4.7%. Motor income in the UK was up by 10.2% for the period, on the back of rate increases implemented since the end of 1999. Other business lines were stable overall.

Tories go for healthy vote
Conservative party plans to form private health insurance clubs for the self-employed and reintroduce tax relief on private medical insurance (PMI) have been welcomed by both Bupa and PPP. Opposition health spokesman Dr Liam Fox also wants to abolish tax on employees' and employers' PMI schemes which costs more than £400m each year. He proposes to set up a new body that will allow four million self-employed people to pool their risks and thereby obtain cheaper health cover.

Let them entertain you
Lloyd's group Thompson Heath & Bond this week acquired the media and entertainment broker White & Wilson for an undisclosed sum. The West End-based brokerage was formed in 1994. It employs 25 staff and delivers annual brokerage of around £1.5m. The acquisition will bring THB's annual brokerage to £17m, making it one of the largest Lloyd's specialist broking operations in that market sector.

Momentum gathers gear
Corporate IFA Momentum Financial Services has invested £1.8m to have its existing standalone systems upgraded by global infotech group CMG. Momentum will get CMG's newest Consultor back-office administration system and the latest interfaced point-of-sale version of the Professional Independent Adviser System. Both systems will go live this month. Momentum, which was formed in August following a management buyout of Aon Consulting Financial Services, was the first user of CMG's Consultor system while still trading as Aon.

Unmetered net access move
Telecoms regulator Oftel is to make BT charge other operators a new wholesale flat rate for internet access in a bid to boost unmetered internet access. From February 2001, internet traffic will be carried on an unmetered basis from consumers' homes to competing operators' networks. Under the present agreement, unmetered traffic is conveyed only as far as the local BT exchange, and other operators are charged to convey calls on to their own networks. This led to companies such as Altavista pulling out of flat rate internet access deals.

Velo gets new name
AON has renamed Velo Motor Accident Management, AON Motor Accident Management after purchasing a majority stake. It was previously a joint venture between the giant broker and Velo. The rebranding exercise coincides with winning a three-year contract to handle the fleet accident management of BT's 55,000 vehicles. Managing director Steve Rattle said: "As part of the deal, we are continuing to provide a branded motor accident managment service to Velo's fleet." With the BT business, the company is now managing more than 150,000 vehicles.

In a state of repair
Bodyshop repair company Doseley Motor Bodies this week opened a new £750,000 development in Dawley, Telford. The new 12,500 sqft unit is on the same site as the company's previous bodyshop. It has a repair capacity of 50 vehicles per week and features new spray booths, jigs and other equipment. Doseley owner Mick Lokat said: "Moving the new bodyshop was a tricky process because we used the same site. We had to build half the new bodyshop, move in, knock down the old one and then complete the rest of the construction work."