Sir John Major and The Apprentice's Karren Brady to speak at Biba conference

Sir John Major and The Apprentice panelist Karren Brady are among the keynote speakers for the Biba 2014 conference.

They will be joined by three other senior politicians, Lord Prescott and MPs David Davis and Sir Ming Campbell.

The conference will be opened on Wednesday 14 May with a debate on customers’ perceptions of insurance.

The panel includes AXA executive director Amanda Blanc, Arthur J Gallagher chief executive David Ross, Yutree managing director Kevin Hancock and BBC Radio 4 Moneybox journalist Paul Lewis. The session will focus on ways to improve the industry’s customer service records.

West Ham Football Club vice-chair Brady will also address delegates on the Wednesday.

On Thursday a debate on ‘the bigger picture’ is expected to give brokers an insight into the year ahead from Lord Prescott, Campbell and Davis. The conference will be closed by Lord Major.

Biba chief executive Steve White said: “It’s highly likely that the image of insurance alongside other financial services has suffered since the banking crisis. So we’re going to dedicate the 2014 conference to improving our service levels and getting innovation back into product design and delivery.”

The theme for the conference is ‘customer … customer … customer’, which has been defined by the trade body as a consumer, business or broker.

The exhibition will be held at Manchester Central and will be hosted by Channel 4 News anchor Jon Snow.