Market moves: Team players and fresh faces

They say a problem shared is a problem halved. And the same, elusive “they” also say that many hands make light work. Clearly the insurance community has been spending a lot of time with “they” as teamwork has been the buzz phrase in this month’s appointments. Under a variety of guises, from business development managers to partnership and relationship team leaders, brokers and insurers have been recruiting staff poised to prove the old adage that there is no ‘I’ in team. Two other notable factors have been the rise of the apprentice – entirely appropriate following Lord Sugar’s keynote speech at the British Insurance Brokers’ Association’s conference – and the almost total absence of movement in personal lines. With commercial lines maintaining a dutiful merry-go-round, the lack of movement in personal lines stands out like the proverbial sore thumb. Perhaps the market’s inhabitants, benefiting from 40% growth in the motor market, are deliberately sitting tight?

Multi-national broker Bartlett Group was at the forefront of maintaining the insurance industry’s almost unquenchable thirst for business development team players. The company, formed in 1940, added Eddie Townsend (left) to its roster. Mr Townsend has 24 years’ experience in general insurance, most recently at Ace Europe as national sales manager. In the industry there remains scepticism about Chartered status. Proponents like Insurance Age have long advocated that, as much as it can help the