Lloyd’s of London chief financial officer Burkhard Keese is set to take over the role of chief operations officer following the departure of incumbent Jennifer Rigby on January 21.
The move is part of the new operational structure the insurance marketplace has put in place to facilitate the implementation of its Blueprint Two programme, which is the second phase of its Future at Lloyd’s strategy aimed at digital transformation.
Under the new leadership structure, Keese will take on additional responsibility for technology and operations as part of his COO role while maintaining CFO duties.
“Throughout the pandemic, Jen’s leadership has been crucial in building flexible solutions at pace that have enabled the corporation and market to continue to operate effectively,” said chief executive officer John Neal. “Jen has established firm foundations to underpin the future success of Blueprint Two and we have now announced a new operational structure so that we are best placed to succeed and deliver on our goals.”
The responsibility of delivering Blueprint Two will fall on the shoulders of director of market transformation Bob James, who joined Lloyd’s in June last year.
In his new role, James will be tasked to “drive the uptake and adoption of the Future at Lloyd’s products and services, and… drive forward the strategic vision as it moves from planning to the crucial execution and adoption phase,” according to a Lloyd’s statement.
“It has been both a privilege and a pleasure to help the corporation and Lloyd’s market on its modernisation journey,” said Rigby. “Together we have made solid progress, and this enabled the market to adapt seamlessly to remote working during the pandemic.”
“I am pleased to have taken the design and concepts of Blueprint Two to a point where we are ready to execute against a committed and contracted plan,” she continued. “My gratitude goes to the many leaders in the market who have tirelessly supported the digitalisation journey and to my team and colleagues at Lloyd’s who have also made it a fantastic five years.”
The insurance marketplace has been building on its digital strategy since early 2020, with Blueprint Two initially unveiled in November that same year. Under the programme, Lloyd’s aims to transition from largely implementing paper-based processes to adopting an automated and data-focused system.
