From apprentice to underwriter

I’ve been in the industry for more than 35 years now. In that time, I’ve done more or less everything in insurance in one way or another. I’ve been involved in all kinds of interesting work, I’ve set up new businesses and I’ve travelled all over the world. So it’s been fantastic. I really appreciate the opportunities the industry has offered me.

When I left school, I didn’t plan to go into insurance – I don’t think many people did back then. I knew I wanted a job in the City, but that’s about it. However, when I found my way into the Lloyd’s market I was hooked from the start. I received a fantastic apprenticeship and built my career from there.

What’s great about the Lloyd’s market is that it brings together two really interesting human and economic systems. So the economic system is what the market does, which is to take specialised or difficult risk – the really interesting stuff – from around the world and funnel it all into one place. By bringing it into Lloyd’s, you can easily spread costs and exposures across the shoulders of the many specialist insurers doing business in the market. It’s harder to do that in the individual countries where the risk comes from, because there are not enough examples of that kind of risk or the expertise to insure against it.

Then there’s the human model, which is that the Lloyd’s market is like a village. There’s Lloyd’s Corporation and over one hundred independent managing agents and brokers, employing thousands of people, all working closely together. From that comes a really strong sense of community, which you’d only get from working in a physical market like this.

The other thing about the Lloyd’s market is that it’s great for people who have an innate curiosity about how the world works. If you have an interest in current affairs, politics, the economy or a particular industry, you can legitimately take that interest and form the basis of a long and satisfying career here.