​Gallagher broadens market management team leadership with two new hires

Broker Gallagher has expanded the top tier of its market management team with two new hires.

Firstly, Gallagher has appointed Richard Laver as its new market management director for UK operations.

In this role, Laver will lead Gallagher’s market management team, which includes insurer relationship management, insurer compliance and providing the broker with market insight.

He will report to Charles Crawford, chief operations officer, and will join the business in the second quarter of 2022.

Laver has worked across insurance markets including the UK, Lloyd’s, US, Asia Pacific and Latin America. He has extensive experience in strategic relationship management with global insurers.

Laver joins from Aon, where he has spent the last decade as managing director of Aon Inpoint, the broker’s management consulting and advisory arm. Here, he was responsible for managing global insurer relations across property and casualty, health and benefits and reinsurance.

Prior to this, he held senior roles at Aston Scott, Cobra and Axa.

Speaking on his appointment, Laver said: “I am excited and looking forward to joining Gallagher in spring next year and starting a new chapter of my career.

”I am thrilled to be working with the team and will be focused on further deepening our relationships with insurers to benefit our clients.

”Gallagher has been on an impressive growth journey over recent years and I look forward to playing my part in its continued expansion.”

Investing in talent

Secondly, Ron Hayes, who is currently Gallagher’s market management director, will move into a newly created role – chief broking officer. He will report to Gallagher’s chief executive of Europe, Middle East and Asia Simon Matson.

Hayes will be responsible for shaping Gallagher’s placement strategy in the UK. He will move into his new role in the first quarter of 2022.

Hayes has worked in the London market for more than 37 years and has been at Gallagher since 2012, overseeing market management during a time of significant growth for the business.

During his career, he has held senior roles at both Marsh and JLT, which involved the development of placement strategies and handling major clients.

Commenting on the changes, Crawford said: “We are delighted that Hayes is moving into a new role where he will be a key ambassador for Gallagher in the market.

“Laver is a first-rate addition to my leadership team and will enable us to further develop our insurer relationships, as well as lead our market management team, who play a hugely important role within Gallagher.

“Both these appointments reflect our ongoing commitment to investing in industry-leading talent, enabling us to pursue our ambitions for further growth.”

Speaking about his new role, Hayes said: “I have hugely enjoyed my role at Gallagher leading the market management team and I am looking forward to helping Gallagher establish its position as a thought leader in placement as it continues to grow.”