Insurance Times rounds up the most significant appointments, departures and leadership changes from 8 to 12 December 2025
This week saw Intact UK confirm that its chief transformation director for commercial lines, Rob Flynn, will leave at the end of December 2025. Flynn stepped into the transformation role in May 2024, having previously served as managing director for UK digital commercial, SME and eTrade.
His departure formed part of a series of senior exits at Intact UK across recent months.
Then, Ecclesiastical Insurance reinforced its leadership in commercial lines with the hire of David Hockey as director of schemes and partnerships.
Hockey will join in January 2026, replacing Chris Withers, who left in November after a decade with Ecclesiastical. He currently serves as chief executive at Admiral Business, overseeing the group’s SME market expansion across broker, direct and partner channels.
Hockey previously spent nearly five years as Aviva’s head of digital trading.
Elsewhere, Howden expanded its specialty capabilities with the launch of a dedicated Space division led by industry veteran Clive Strickland.
The new capability will serve satellite owners, manufacturers, launch providers, government agencies and commercial operators, covering risks across launches and in-orbit operations.
Meanwhile, QBE added further experience to its UK casualty division with the appointment of Sharon Smallridge as portfolio manager for its London major client team.
Joining from AIG, where she served as general liability manager, Smallridge brings more than 35 years of insurance experience spanning claims and underwriting.
Finally, AIG created a senior real estate role within its UK commercial property division, appointing Dean Cloke as its first head of real estate.
Cloke joins from Everest Insurance, where he led property for the UK and Ireland, and previously spent 15 years at Zurich in several corporate property leadership positions.
The appointment followed AIG’s acquisition of renewal rights for most of Everest Group’s retail insurance portfolios worldwide, representing approximately £1.52bn of premium.
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.
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