How would you sum up insurance brokers in three words?
Driven, customer-focused.
How would you change the industry?
I really believe that relaxing the stranglehold the top three insurers have in this market would be good for customers and the industry.
Best advice you’ve ever been given?
When you start a new business you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find the princess!
What’s the most important thing a broker can do to develop their business?
Focus on what the customer wants now and into the future.
What’s the biggest challenge facing the industry today?
Balancing the need for regulation with developing a vibrant market that meets customer needs.
What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever arranged cover for?
The insurance needs of a touring production company presenting an entertainment with “spank” in the title.
What has been the highlight of your career?
Building Calliden Group and setting up the business structures that will drive its profitable growth in the years ahead
NRL, AFL, soccer or other?
Soccer, it is what I was brought up with. I am a long suffering and far from loyal supporter of Millwall Football Club in London.
If you could invite three people to dinner, dead or alive, and excluding family and friends, who would they be and why?
Winston Churchill – for wit and opinions plus he liked a drink.
Joop Waterreus (I worked for him in Holland) – for his advice on the insurance business, career and life in general.
And finally, Julia Gillard because I would be fascinated to understand how she withstood so much personal criticism and why.
Complete this sentence: If I wasn’t in insurance, I would be… Living round the corner from my Mum and Dad in South London and going to the Den in South Bermondsey with school friends to watch Millwall play their home games.
