We are delighted to welcome seven new judges to our panel of arbiters for the 2002 Insurance Times Awards. The new faces are Bournemouth University lecturer Dr Julie Robson, Financial Times insurance correspondent Andrew Bolger, Airmic chairman David Ireland, former Chatset publisher Charles Sturge, Strategic Risk publisher Suzanne Hirst, IRM chairman Mark Butterworth and public relations consultant Alex Wise
Andrew Bolger
Bolgerhas been insurance correspondent of the FT since 1998. Previously, he spent four years as employment correspondent and five years covering bids and deals for the UK companies pages.
A graduate of Edinburgh University, he joined the international edition of the FT in 1986 from the Glasgow Herald, having previously worked on The Scotsman and the Aberdeen Press & Journal.
Last year, he won for the second time in three years the ABI's annual award for the best national newspaper journalist writing on general insurance. He was also joint winner of the 2002 Business Journalist of the Year award for best insurance article, for an investigation into Equitable Life.
Charles Sturge
Sturge has spent his working career closely associated with Lloyd's. Starting in 1958 as a broker with
JH Minet, Sturge then worked on the Sturge non-marine box at Lloyd's before starting his own analysis company Chatset. He was elected an underwriting member of Lloyd's in 1959 and remained a Name until 1995. Chatset was the first company to collate and publish Lloyd's individual syndicate results. The first edition of the Lloyd's league tables was published in 1981 covering the 1977 underwriting year. The tables have been published annually up to last year. Other Chatset publications included the Guide to Syndicate Run Offs and the Directory of Lloyd's.
Mark Butterworth
Butterworth is the chairman of The Institute of Risk Management (IRM), the UK's leading risk management educational body. In addition to being a fellow of the IRM, Butterworth is a fellow of the CII and has an MBA from City University business school. Butterworth's full time role is group insurance risk manager for Prudential plc, a global role based in London. His past career has included roles with JH Minet (now part of Aon) and Guardian Royal Exchange. Butterworth is a past chairman of Airmic.
Suzanne Hirst
Hirst became publisher of Strategic Risk in June 2002 after spending five years building the commercial success of Insurance Times, as advertising manager and then as group advertising manager. When Strategic Risk was launched in June 2000, Suzanne was instrumental in the planning and development of the first issues, which went immediately to market leadership.
Alex Wise
Wise is a director of Loud & Clear Public Relations, a strategic public relations and media consultancy specialising in the insurance sector. He has worked in insurance for 18 years, 14 of which have been spent in public relations and corporate communications for companies including Capita Eastgate (now Capita Insurance Services), Hambro Assistance and Prudential Corporation.
David Ireland
Ireland started work with Royal Insurance in 1965. During the late 1970s he joined the in-house insurance subsidiary of Norwest Holst Group based in Liverpool. The position and subsequent promotions provided the opportunity to follow a varied career path encompassing insurance buying, broking, claims management and even underwriting through a captive insurance company.
Norwest Holst Group was acquired by SGE and renamed VINCI. Ireland is currently group insurance director of VINCI plc, which is part of the world's largest construction and concessions group.
Ireland has been a member of Airmic for 23 years and has been a council member since 1999. He was elected as North West region chairman in 2001, prior to becoming deputy chairman.
Dr Julie Robson
After completing her PhD in financial services marketing, Robson moved into the business world. She subsequently held several senior marketing positions in the insurance sector covering brand management, new product development and marketing services.
She also spent some time working in Munich, for global insurer Allianz. Robson has played a major role in establishing and developing several industry bodies, being the first chairman of the Financial Services Group (part of the Chartered Institute of Marketing) and chair of the general insurance group of the Market Research Society.
Robson is now a senior lecturer in international marketing strategy at Bournemouth University.
