Marsh nabs Laing construction account from JLT

Marsh has beaten Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT) to win the account for construction giant Laing O'Rourke. Insurance Times understands that Marsh’s London-based construction team has picked up the multibillion-pound business, one of the largest accounts in the market.

Rival broker JLT is understood to have handled the majority of the business previously. Kerry London is thought to have recently been retained in a consultancy role by Laing O’Rourke, having lost a large chunk of the business it once handled to Quinn Insurance, which took over in a direct capacity. Laing O’Rourke is the largest privately owned construction firm in the UK, with a turnover in excess of £4bn.

Marsh, which is believed to be aggressively growing its construction business, declined to comment. JLT, Kerry London and Quinn also declined to comment.

• Meanwhile, Macquarie, the bank handling the sale of Quinn Insurance, has sent potential bidders a seven-page ‘teaser’ report in the hope of attracting bids once the full sales process gets underway. A full information memorandum is expected to be issued on 28 July to a select shortlist of interested parties.

Quinn is still waiting to hear the result of its application to have all or part of its UK commercial business reopened by the Irish Financial Regulator. A source close to the administrator hinted an announcement could be made this week. However, the regulator said no decision was imminent.