Stuart Alexander joint managing director Alex Shead will move to Australia in April to establish a general insurance broking business.
Fellow joint managing director Stuart Reid will remain in Lo ...
Stuart Alexander joint managing director Alex Shead will move to Australia in April to establish a general insurance broking business.
Fellow joint managing director Stuart Reid will remain in London, and both will retain a 40% shareholding in the group. Shead will continue as joint managing director of Stuart Alexander and will return to the UK each quarter to attend board meetings and maintain contact with key clients.
Shead has been planning the move for some time and will be based in Sydney. He said he hoped to have the Australian subsidiary, Stuart Alexander International, operating by the end of 2003.
After bedding down operations in Sydney, Shead said the subsidiary could expand into other Australian regions through both organic growth and acquisitions.
The insurance broking market in Australia is similar to the UK, with a significant proportion of Australian business placed in the London Market. Stuart Alexander is also considering Lloyd's membership, through which it could place a significant proportion of its Australian business.
Reid said the move would not slow Stuart Alexander's appetite for UK acquisitions.
"It will be business as usual. Stuart Alexander is profitable, diverse and successful enough to do this."
