Broker makes leadership changes as it looks to build ‘broking powerhouse’

Academy Insurance has announced several changes to its leadership team as it looks to transform into a “broking powerhouse”.

The moves will see Nick Mountifield  take up the role of chief operating officer from Richard Beaven, who will move into the position of managing director.

Both will report to chief executive Gilles Normand.

Mountifield joins the firm from PIB Group, where he was most recently the chief executive of its schemes and affinities division.

Mountifield said: “I am keen to be part of what I believe will be a new level of quality in SME and commercial broking.

”Gilles’ vision of marrying people, technology and data to create a purpose-led broking business is very appealing and I’m looking forward to playing a key role in bringing that vision to life.”   

Meanwhile, Beaven, who held the role of chief operating officer for just under a year, is moving into his new position to focus on commercial growth following the firm’s acquisition of Premierline. 

“I’m relishing this new challenge and looking forward to building our market presence,” Beaven said.

”Our purpose-led broking ethos has landed well with vendors and it’s genuinely exciting to be part of something that feels new and different in UK commercial broking.”

’Broking powerhouse’

The appointments form part of Academy’s next phase of growth following its acquisition of Premierline.

Premierline, which became part of Allianz in 2006, is headquartered in Lancaster and writes specialist commercial insurance across the UK.

It employs nearly 90 staff and deals with 17,000 clients, ranging from micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to large corporates.

Now that Academy has secured these appointments as well as Premierline, it felt it can “build a highly experienced senior management team that can oversee the transformation of the business into a broking powerhouse”.

“Academy is not merely an EBIT sausage machine,” Normand said.

“We believe that organic growth and the welfare of our people are critical success factors for our business and we intend to combine our acquisition strategy with organic growth, focusing primarily on building our commercial SME book.”