London MGA appoints Arch broking leader as head of sales and distribution

Avid Insurance has appointed Kristian Bartlett as its new head of sales and distribution.

The newly created role will see Bartlett be responsible for growing the MGA’s distribution footprint regionally, as well as in its construction business IIGL.

As part of this, he will design and implement a strategy to drive more visibility in the broking market and create further cross-selling opportunities among existing and new trading partners.

Bartlett said: “The government’s focus on growth, including housing, gives us added incentive to scale up our regional penetration.

“Visibility is vital, so I’ll be getting out and about the UK to meet our broking partners and develop new relationships, including doing specialist roadshows in Q2, and you’ll see a lot more of me at industry and partner events.

“There’s new talent coming into broking who may not have heard of us before, so in meeting them at first hand I can give them insight into Avid and IIGL and our market-leading capabilities.”

Experience

Bartlett joins Avid after three years at Arch, where he was most recently the broker relationship development manager.

Between 2015-2022, meanwhile, he was head of sales and marketing at MGA Commercial Express.

Other firms he has worked at during his career include Markerstudy and Express Insurance. His first job in insurance was at Direct Line in 1999.

Avid chief executive Steve Gibson said: “It’s great that we’ve secured someone of Bartlett’s calibre and experience to lead our business development.

“His arrival builds on our A-rated insurance partner support for construction [from Chaucer and Ascot] and he will inject further pace into our already high performing IIGL team, giving the group a clear line of sight to meeting our strategic objectives this year.”