VPL appointments

Venture Preference (VPL), AXA’s broker subsidiary, made four senior appointments. Ian Story, finance director at Smart & Cook, is now chief financial officer for VPL. Geoff Bradford, managing director of Layton Blackham, takes on the role of integration director. Graham Coates, managing director of Stuart Alexander, will now be markets director. Darryl Druckman, Stuart Alexander finance director, becomes acquisition director. First published 22 October

HNW businesses merge

Somerville Holdings is to merge its Oak high net worth (HNW) and Plum home underwriting operations early in 2008. The combined business will manage about £50m of gross premium income. First published 22 October

Lehman finance tool

Lehman Brothers launched Libero Ventures, which allows insurers to improve their overall return on capital. First published 22 October

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.

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