New board mingles network members

Broker Network has restructured its board of directors to incorporate other network acquisitions by its parent company, Towergate.

Nick Houghton has been appointed to the new position of sales and marketing director for Towergate’s network division. He was managing director of Towergate Professional Risks, Leeds Bradford.

A spokesman for the network said the decision to reshuffle the board was prompted by corporate governance purposes.

The new board will mix members from Broker Network and the Countrywide Network, part of Open GI, which was acquired by Towergate in September 2007. Towergate acquired Broker Network later that year.

Grant Ellis, Broker Network’s chief executive, is the current executive chairman of the network division. Nick Haycock, managing director of Countrywide, is also on the board.

Following his appointment, Houghton said: “We have some very aggressive targets. We want to continue growing.”

Broker Network, which this year celebrates its 15th anniversary, currently has 210 members with a shared gross written premium of more than £550m.

It wants to have 1,000 broker members by 2013 and also plans to recruit 70 new staff in the next two years.

It recently launched a recruitment drive for associate members.