Giles swoops for Oxygen boss Ernoult

The former managing director of Oxygen Insurance Brokers, Tom Ernoult, has joined Giles Insurance Brokers.

Ernoult has been appointed director of underwriting services at Giles less than a year after joining Oxygen from Heath Lambert, where he was managing director of Heath Lambert National. Before that, he was managing director and chief operating officer of the corporate client practice division at Marsh.

He already has a history with Giles. Last year, his then employer Oxygen hired five former Giles members of staff – David Laughlin, Stuart Morley, Peter Critchley, Danielle Railton and Vicky Railton – to set up an infrastructure finance team within its UK corporate risks practice.

Ernoult’s arrival is one of a series of senior appointments at Giles. The consolidator has also created new roles for Howard Pearson and Mark Addis, who were already directors. Pearson has been appointed retail managing director and Addis has become wholesaling managing director.

Giles has also confirmed that Simon Brooke is now responsible for its Southern region. He joined the company last November when it acquired transport specialist SBP Group, where he was managing director.

Chris Giles, chief executive of Giles, said the company had become an “employer of choice, as well as the name most commonly linked with acquisitions”.

“With the success of our underwriting agency, acquisitions and wholesale business, I have been able to draw on an excellent pool of internal and external candidates for these roles,” he said.

However, Giles has lost two staff to rival consolidator Towergate in Scotland. Bob Walker has joined Towergate Risk Solutions Aberdeen as account executive and Steve Watson has moved to Towergate Risk Solutions Kirkcaldy, also as an account executive.

Meanwhile, Wayne Tonge, sales director for the commercial property underwriting division at Towergate, is to take up a similar role at PowerPlace, an electronic trading system for brokers launched by Towergate.