Coalition has announced the appointment of Mark Bird, a former police cybercrime unit acting sergeant, as the leader of its affiliate incident response and cyber forensics organisation, Coalition Incident Response UK Ltd. (CIR).
Bird is set to commence his role as the UK CIR lead this month. His career spans 16 years with the West Midlands Police, where he specialised in investigating cybercrime within their regional organised crime unit. Bird transitions to CIR from Pragma, a network security company, where he served as head of incident response.
Bird's experience in law enforcement includes investigating high-profile cybercrime cases, aiding both small UK businesses and large corporations. His role at Pragma involved supporting clients through significant cyber events, including business email compromises, ransomware attacks, and insider threats like data and intellectual property theft.
“I am very excited to be able to help Coalition’s policyholders in their moment of greatest need,” Bird said. “Having experienced a range of high-pressure situations during my career, I take great pleasure in providing support and reassurance to clients during times of immense pressure. For hard-pressed businesses, cyber events can be immensely frustrating and stressful. Years of work can be undone by someone clicking on a malicious email. My job is to offer immediate support and guide clients back to business as usual.”
Bird's appointment is part of a series of new hires at Coalition, with the UK headcount more than doubling in its first year of trading. Across its operations in the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia, Coalition employs over 600 people, both in offices and remotely worldwide.
“2023 was all about consolidating our launch in the UK market, talking to brokers about how to support their clients with cyber insurance,” said Tom Draper, head of insurance for Coalition UK. “In 2024, as demonstrated by Mark’s hire and others in the pipeline, we will support brokers by bringing new ways to educate insureds, thereby helping to reduce the impact of cyber events on UK businesses.”
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