Andy spent the last 25 years of his career as a CEO of four different companies in the insurance sector including Towergate, Folgate, AXA Insurance UK and what is now Aviva UK General Insurance. Towergate became the largest independent insurance intermediary in Europe with the completion of 150 acquisitions and was sold to Private Equity in 2010. Andy currently sits on several boards in the software, utility, and insurance sectors and is the Chair of Amber River and recently stepped down as Chair of Brown & Brown (Europe) insurance group and Hood Group. He is also an Angel investor in over 20 start-ups. Andy has been a mentor since 2012. His mentor experience includes supporting Private Equity partnerships and CEOs & C-Suite executives working for FTSE 100/250 companies. His assignments have included CEO succession preparation, C-Suite transformation, ExCo and Senior Leadership Team development.

Andy’s philosophy is that all leaders are capable of a progressive and permanent shift in their capability and that of their teams, but only if those leaders are prepared to make the shift. He believes that performance improvement and development begin with understanding the positive capabilities of the individual, the team, and the organization. His focus is to build on the strengths of his client, to help them stretch their capabilities, and to widen and deepen their perspectives. He sees inclusion, diversity and followership as key to better decision making. He subscribes to working in an open, trusting, but always challenging way with his clients and believes in honest and constructive feedback. He is certain that all of us have the potential to deliver more, better, faster, and thereby achieve greater happiness and meaning in our lives and the lives of those we influence. He helps his clients seek out concrete performance and development outputs.

As well as being an experienced CEO, in recent years Andy has established himself as an experienced Independent Non-Executive Director and Chair of several boards in the software, utility, and insurance sectors, two of which were backed by leading Private Equity firms in the UK and Brazil. He was previously Chair of Merryck, the Motor Insurers Bureau, and the British Insurance Brokers Association and served as President of the Chartered Insurance Institute.

Andy is married with two sons and three grandchildren and lives in both Surrey and Spain. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute and a Past President of the International Body. He is an Alumnus of Wharton Business School, Ashridge Executive Education and Saïd Business School. He holds a Master’s Degree in Coaching and Mentoring Practice from Oxford Brookes University and is an Honorary Visiting Professor of the Business School of the University of London. He is also a qualified Supervisor of Coaching.