The recent climb of Brendan McManus up the Royal & SunAlliance tree to UK commercial director has left the company looking to fill McManus' old post, director of UK commercial corporate business.

The recent climb of Brendan McManus up the Royal & SunAlliance tree to UK commercial director has left the company looking to fill McManus' old post, director of UK commercial corporate business.

According to Backchat's well informed sources, Simon Cooter, R&SA's director of small business and e-business is the internal frontrunner, but there's also plenty of external talent floating around in the market with Lloyd Hanks, Paul Cosh, Phil Bunker and Andy Briscoe all looking for a place to hang their hats.

However, one name put to Backchat, that of a key Norwich Union executive, came as more of a surprise. Especially as Backchat hears that McManus' equivalent at NU, intermediary business director Ken Wallace, has finally set a date for his retirement.

The 2025 Insurance Times Awards took place on the evening of Wednesday 3rd December in the iconic Great Room of London’s Grosvenor House.

Hosted by comedian and actor Tom Allen, 34 Gold, 23 Silver and 22 Bronze awards were handed out across an amazing 34 categories recognising brilliance and innovation right across the breadth of UK general insurance.
Many congratulations to all the worthy winners and as always, huge thanks to our sponsors for their support and our judges for their expertise.