High Five: Catch up on the biggest stories this week

This week’s most read story was Aon appointing Adam Reed as chief commercial officer of major, complex and enterprise clients for commercial risk in the UK.

In his new role, Reed will drive growth with FTSE350 and private businesses, working closely with Aon leaders across the country, including Amy Froude, chief commercial officer of commercial risk for the UK.

• Aon snaps up Howden leader for UK commercial c-suite role

Then, Ardonagh appointed Chris Lay as an operating partner at Ardonagh Capital Partners.

Lay, who most recently served as chief executive at Marsh UK, will work on group strategy and deploy his experience across the Ardonagh portfolio of companies.

• Ex-Marsh UK chief executive takes up new role at Ardonagh 

Following this, Gallagher acquired Bridge Insurance Brokers as it looks to expand its real estate and construction capabilities.

Established in 1970, Bridge is a family-owned commercial insurance broker specialising in real estate, construction, corporate and private client insurance. The business has offices in Manchester and London and employs circa 110 colleagues.

• Gallagher acquires family-owned commercial broker to expand real estate capabilities

After that, PIB Group appointed Rob Houghton as its new chief operations officer.

Houghton’s remit will span technology and operations, working closely with chief executives and leaders across the group to drive growth across the UK and Europe, while streamlining and scaling its operations and processes.

• PIB Group appoints new chief operations officer

Finally, Clear Group strengthened its presence on the south coast with the acquisition of Pangea Insurance Brokers and Pangea Life.

The Pangea group are specialists in commercial and personal insurance, employee benefits and business protection, with it generating an annual income in excess of £3m.

• Clear Group acquires commercial and personal specialists