Crawford resigns from Davies

Charles Crawford (pictured) has resigned as chief executive of the Davies Group with immediate effect. 

Crawford has left along with recently appointed chief operating officer Andy Webb and will be replaced in the interim by former chief executive and managing director and current deputy chairman Mark Chapman until a permanent replacement is found.

The company did not give the reasons for their resignations.

Chapman will be supported by chairman Adrian Hill, a former general manager at HSBC where he was responsible for general insurance as well as other divisions including First Direct. Hill was also a former chief executive at HFC Bank.

Crawford joined Davies in July 2009 from Royal Bank of Scotland Insurance (RBSI) where he was managing director of partnerships and international.

Prior to that he was managing director of RBSI intermediary business and NIG, as well as several underwriting and director roles at Churchill and RSA.

Webb joined Davies in May, four months after leaving Legal & General where he held the same role. Previously he was operations director at Churchill and interim operations director in the e-trading division at Towergate.

The duo’s departure comes less than two months after Davies was dropped from the claims handling panels of NFU Mutual and Zurich following reviews.

Davies said in a statement released today: “Charles joined Davies with the brief to grow the business, strengthen the management and take the business forward post the 2008 management buy-out and again following the sale to Electra Partners a year ago. We want to thank him for his commitment and dedication to Davies over the past three-and-a-half years and wish him well for the future.”

Hill said: “I am delighted Mark will be returning as acting chief executive. He is a hugely respected loss adjuster with a passion for customer service. Our customer-focused approach, the quality of our service and the professionalism of our people are the cornerstones of Davies’ values. We are investing in our systems to further support our customer service ethic and under Mark’s leadership we will continue to vigorously pursue this agenda.”

Chapman said: “Following a period of working alongside many of our key clients I am looking forward to leading the team in delivering the best service of any claims management business. While loss adjusting is at the heart of Davies’ business, our offering is much broader than this, and our focus remains on providing a range of value added services to our many clients. 

“Davies is a business with very little bank debt, a solid balance sheet and highly supportive long-term investors, placing us in an enviable position. I look forward to helping the business with its next stage of growth.”