Farming broker appoints ex-Marsh chief executive as managing director

Farming specialist Acres Insurance Brokers has appointed Mark Cooper as its new managing director.

In his new role, Cooper will head up the day-to-day operation with the senior leadership team and work closely alongside founder and chief executive Nigel Wellings.

Cooper’s appointment comes amid the company executing its new growth strategy, with it aiming to double in size within three to five years and enter more commercial markets related to farming.

The broker aims to achieve this through investment in the business and its people.

“I am really excited to take on this opportunity with Acres, with the huge plans to not only grow the business in its key markets, but also expand out into related commercial spaces,” Cooper said.

“These are ambitious growth plans and I have been brought on board to provide the structure and leadership to achieve these and help drive that journey.

“My vision generally is that, where we are already a quality broker for farm, we will grow that offering and become a bigger presence in that market and become the ‘go-to’ broker for people looking for quality broking advice in that sector, as well as the related commercial space.

“We have some really good people on board already and we will be growing the business and bringing in additional quality people to help drive that expansion.”

Experience

Prior to taking up his new position, Cooper spent five years in various senior leadership roles at Marsh Commercial.

He joined the broker in 2018 as its regional director and was most recently chief executive for the south of England and the whole of Wales.

This saw him take responsibility for some 450 colleagues over more than 20 locations.

In his new role, he will be predominantly based from Acres’ head office in Brigstock, Northamptonshire.

Cooper said that Acres’ “plans to be a market disruptor and to provide something new within the market” is what attracted him to the role.

“I believe my role is to mould the business to where it needs to be, lending my expertise to get us to that next step,” he added.