Gallagher swoops for new head of cyber

Broker giant Gallagher yesterday (4 September 2023) appointed Sam Cheshire as the new head of cyber for its UK and Ireland retail division.

In his new role, Cheshire will have responsibility for supporting Gallagher’s clients and regional office network with specialist technical cyber knowledge.

Cheshire will report to Andrew Marvin, client service director for Yorkshire, who previously advised Gallagher’s retail division clients on their cyber insurance needs.

Marvin said: “Cyber attacks are highly prevalent and, with more people working remotely plus business moving away from traditional IT environments to modern cloud infrastructure, cyber attackers have a larger surface area to target.

“As a result, it’s more important than ever that firms work with brokers that have specialist knowledge of the cyber risks they are facing and can ensure they have the appropriate protection in place.”

Evolving cyber landscape

Cheshire has joined Gallagher after spending more than six years at independent broker Clear Insurance Management, where he was most recently a professional and financial risks broker.

He has also held roles as assistant consultant and account handler.

During his time at Clear Insurance, he worked closely with commercial business clients to identify each one’s unique cyber risks.

Cheshire has also used his specialist knowledge of the cyber market to support account executives with understanding of complex cyber policy wordings.

He said: “I am thrilled to be joining Gallagher and to help its clients further understand their cyber risks. The cyber threat landscape is constantly evolving and attackers continue to adapt their tactics and techniques to exploit new vulnerabilities and technologies.

“Today’s cyber crime gangs operate like heavily funded professional organisations with vastly more resources that attacks of yesteryear – businesses need specialist advice to ensure they understand the fast changing nature of cyber threats.”

Cyber attacks remain a major problem for UK businesses – in 2022 86% of cyber claims made to CFC were from businesses with less than £50m in annual turnover.

Cyber insurance uptake has been historically low for SMEs, which prompted broker trade body Biba to call on the government to improve cyber security measures in this year’s manifesto .

Marvin added: “I’m delighted to welcome Cheshire to the team as he brings a wealth of technical cyber knowledge and insight.

“Cheshire has a proven track record of supporting businesses with their cyber insurance needs and this will help enhance the specialist advice we provide to our clients.”