’My focus will be on driving commercial growth and strengthening key relationships, ensuring we continue to bring specialist products and innovation to market,’ says appointee
Arkel has promoted Matthew Birney to managing director with immediate effect as the specialist MGA looks to build on a period of growth.
Birney will lead the strategic direction of the Atec Group-owned business, with responsibility for commercial performance and strengthening relationships with insurers, brokers and distribution partners.
Kris Lee will remain chief underwriting officer and work alongside Birney to develop the MGA’s underwriting performance.
Birney joined Atec Group in 2022 as pricing director and has since played a central role in developing Arkel’s data-led pricing strategy and proprietary underwriting platform.
He brings more than a decade of personal lines experience, specialising in pricing and underwriting transformation across non-standard household and motor insurance.
His previous roles include positions at Prestige Underwriting, Geo Underwriting, Midas Underwriting and XS Direct.
Birney said: ”Arkel has built something special, a highly skilled underwriting team, proprietary technology and a reputation for removing the complexity from specialist insurance. I’m delighted to take on this new role and work alongside Lee and the wider team as we accelerate our growth.
”My focus will be on driving commercial growth and strengthening key relationships, ensuring we continue to bring specialist products and innovation to market.”
Market growth
The promotion follows a period of expansion for Arkel, with gross written premium (GWP) increasing by 40% over the past two years.
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The MGA has also increased its number of live agencies and renewed and extended relationships with capacity providers.
Brendan Devine, chief executive at Atec Group, said: “Arkel has one of the strongest underwriting teams in the specialist and non-standard market. Birney has been central to that over the past four years, and stepping up to lead the business is a natural next step.
”His commercial acumen, combined with Lee’s deep underwriting expertise, will serve our business and our partners well as Arkel continues to grow, delivering the same disciplined, accessible underwriting our partners know us for, backed by an even stronger leadership team.”
His career began in 2019, when he joined a local north London newspaper after graduating from the University of Sheffield with a first-class honours degree in journalism.
He took up the position of deputy news editor at Insurance Times in March 2023, before being promoted to his current role in May 2024.View full Profile
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