Alan Thomas: Picking ‘up the reins’ at Ripe Insurance

Back in September 2024, Paul Williams confirmed that he was stepping down as chief executive at digital insurtech MGA Ripe, after nearly eight years at the helm to move into a non-executive director position.

It was also revealed that succeeding Williams would be Simply Business’ former UK chief executive Alan Thomas.

Prior to his appointment, Thomas worked at broker Simply Business for eight years, starting in 2016 as the firm’s chief commercial officer before moving to lead the business from 2019.

After five years at the helm of Simply Business, Thomas was on the lookout for a new challenge.

Speaking exclusively to Insurance Times, he says: “I had done what [Simply Business] said we were going to do in our five-year plan.

”The biggest thing that kept me awake at night [when working at Simply Business] was how do I scale [the company] without breaking it?

“I started to think ‘what does the next chapter look like?’ And ‘do I do that here or somewhere else?’”

Thomas quickly came to the conclusion that he was ready for a change, recognising that September 2024 marked ”a really good time” to ”pick up the reins” at Ripe Insurance.

He continued: ”I was looking at getting into a business at a certain scale that was able to move quickly, make good decisions, but get into the market and get in front of customers fast.”

Growth trajectory

Ripe Insurance has growth on the agenda.

In July 2024, the MGA appointed its first head of M&A, Jamie Richards, and alongside Thomas’ appointment, the firm announced its intention to double its office footprint in September 2024.

Now, Thomas is eager to address the opportunities he sees in the specialist personal lines and SME markets – particularly around how data and technology can be deployed to better serve the MGA’s customers. He also hopes to investigate new product launches in 2025.

Further M&A is also on the cards following Ripe Insurance’s purchase of specialist boat underwriter GJW Direct from Munich Re Specialty in October 2024.

Thomas is currently focused on the integration process, post GJW Direct acquisition. The deal will increase Ripe’s total customers to 400,000, the MGA boss is keen to ensure the business is shipshape ahead of the new year, when he hopes to push this customer number up towards the one million mark.

Serving the customer

Thomas is laserlike in his focus on the end customer. Recognising that Ripe Insurance maintains a similar ethos was “one of the motivating factors” as to why Thomas decided to join the MGA, enabling him to tackle parts of the market where he felt customers had not historically been well served.

Thomas’ passion for customer service was partially derived from his time at insurer Hiscox, between February 2004 and August 2016, where he worked under former chairman Robert Hiscox in roles such as sales director and head of intermediary sales and distribution.

Focusing on customers serves a dual purpose, however, as Thomas explains that catering to customer need is the best way of scaling a business too.

He says: “What I’ve seen really work for growing businesses and making it successful really depends on how you get something in front of customers that they want.

“[Ripe Insurance’s] products are almost universally insuring someone’s passion, [such as] a musical instrument, their business, a boat or bike.

“You have to have [staff] who are prepared to be in the mindset of the customer as well.”