Konsileo appoints Lickens as new chair following Clear Group departure

Broker Konsileo has appointed Howard Lickens as its new chair.

Lickens founded Clear Insurance Management in 2001, where he was chief executive and latterly executive chair, with responsibility for the broker’s M&A programme and relationships with carriers.

In December 2025, Lickens retired from the role of executive chairman. Speaking about joining Konsileo, he said:  “Konsileo has a genuinely different business model rooted in the values I’ve always held dear in insurance broking – treat the client right, give the broker tools to be excellent in doing so and treat brokers with respect.

“It’s no surprise that they’ve outpaced their peers on organic growth and I’m delighted to support the company’s next phase of growth as it approaches £100m of gross written premium.”

Strengthening board

Lickens is the latest appointment to Konsileo’s board.

The business was joined by US insurance, operations and investment executive Joe Zuk in June 2025. Meanwhile, Geoff Lloyd, a former HR leader at FTSE100 firms Meggitt and Serco, joined investment director Judy Welch as non-executive director in December 2023.

Konsileo co-founder and chief executive John Warburton said: “I first met Lickens more than 15 years ago when I was at Allianz. Back then he struck me as one of the most thoughtful people in insurance with a deeply rooted drive to build an organisation with high quality advice, trusted relationships and independence at its heart.

”When we launched Konsileo he was the first person I sought out for guidance. His mentorship in those early days and his introduction to Brokerbility, was material to our growth.

”Having his deep market insights and intuition for culture and client excellence in broking really augments our board and I’m so pleased that Konsileo will benefit even further from his experience.”