​Ola Jacob named Biba committee chair for London and Southeast

Ola Jacob has been named as broker trade body Biba’s committee chair for London and the Southeast.

Jacob, MGA Descartes Underwriting’s director of business development, also won the Insurance Times Tech Champion of the Year accolade in 2022.

He replaces James Nattrass, who is also senior vice president, client executive at Lockton.

In his role, Jacob will be spearheading Biba’s career programme in collaboration with national body for careers education the Careers and Enterprise Company, which was set up in 2015.

In a post  on the trade body’s LinkedIn page, Jacob said: “We are massively excited to do this and provide opportunities to local students who may have had no idea such opportunities even existed for them.

“We want to inspire these students and show the all the incredible opportunities that a career in insurance has to offer them.”

Low awareness

Jacob has spent the best part of his career being an inspiration to other ethnic minorities and championing insurance as a career, he told Insurance Times in a previous interview.

He added: “Currently, the awareness levels of insurance are really low with these students, we want to change that.”

Biba gave a “huge congratulations” to Jacob and thanked the committee for all its hard work.

The news follows Biba launching its programme with the Careers and Enterprise Company in January 2024. It began targeting two London schools aiming to raise awareness of the diversity of careers in insurance.

Insurance Times has contacted Biba for further comment.