For future speaking opportunities, email sbrown@commercialriskonline.com
| Company | Job Title | Name | Profile Picture | Speaker Bio | Speaking At |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HDI Global SE, UK & Ireland | Principal Risk Engineer | Mark Allan |  | Within the insurance industry, Mark works in Risk Engineering for the Construction and Engineering sectors, undertaking UK and international CAR and EAR surveys for projects valued anything between a £few million up to €1bn within the building, tunnelling, dams, transportation and industrial sectors. He also provides desk top review and technical guidance to underwriting and clients, as well as training and contribution to professional working groups including development of guidance papers. Prior to joining the insurance industry in 2010, Mark worked for 10 years within Civil Engineering Industry, working on heavy civil engineering projects within transportation, power distribution, and aviation sectors in both site and design based roles. | Workshop: How to mitigate water damage risks |
| Aon | Executive Director | Tom Anderson |  | Tom has 20 years’ experience in construction and construction insurance. His career was spent at one of the UK’s largest contractors where he led their insurance and risk management programme. Now at Aon he is now focussed on supporting the Professional Services team and their clients with insight and innovation. | Quick fire presentation: Professional liability – what to expect next |
| Swiss Re Corporate Solutions | Global Head Engineering & Construction | Manuela Baroncini |  | - | Presentation & panel discussion: Major risks and insurance market outlook |
| Descartes Underwriting | Head of EMEA Distribution & Client Management | Blanca Berruguete |  | From Descartes’ Madrid office, Blanca is responsible for EMEA business development, client services, and leads the European commercial team. She reports to Descartes’ co-founder and Chief Insurance Officer, Sébastien Piguet. During her 25 years serving clients and brokers in the commercial insurance sector, Blanca has developed a keen focus on building value for clients by listening to their needs. Most recently, she was Global Industry Solutions Director for Construction at Allianz Commercial, working closely with underwriters and key account executives to build industry-specific expertise and best practices. She previously served in leadership roles in broking and underwriting, both in London and Madrid, at firms including Generali, the Corporation of Lloyd’s of London, AIG, Zurich Insurance, as well as Heath Lambert and AJ Gallagher. She is an executive committee member of the International Engineering Insurance Association (IMIA). | Panel discussion: Climate change and extreme weather – who bears the risk? |
| McKinsey & Company | Associate Partner | Birgit Biemans |  | - | Keynote address: Construction market economic outlook |
| Transpennine Route Upgrade | Risk Management Director | Wesley Cadby |  | Wes is an accomplished risk management professional with extensive experience in both the public and private sectors, specialising in the construction and nuclear industries. He has successfully delivered Enterprise Risk Management frameworks in large organisations and led risk management on major infrastructure projects. He is currently the Risk Management Director for the TransPennine Route Upgrade major programme; a major multi-billion-pound programme of railway improvements for the North of the UK. He has previously served on the Board of the Institute of Risk Management, and is a key member of their Infrastructure Risk Management special interest group. | Breakfast session workshop: Building the perfect construction risk manager – what skills are needed and is the profession ready for the future? |
| Landsec | Group Insurance Director | Cleo Curl |  | Cleo is Group Insurance Director within the Corporate Governance team of Landsec, a FTSE 100 company and is one of the leading real estate companies in the UK. Cleo has responsibility for risk financing of insurable risk for the group and coordination of risk management activity across the portfolio. She is a Chartered Insurance Risk Manager of the Chartered Insurance Institute and a Certified Risk Professional of the Institute of Risk Management. Cleo started her career in a small motor trade insurance broker before moving to in-house insurance roles in various industries such as Helphire, London Luton Airport, Luminar and Threadneedle before moving on to Landsec in 2016. | Panel discussion: The importance of collaborative sharing |
| QBE | Risk Solutions Practice Leader - Casualty & Construction | David Dexter |  | Dave joined QBE European Operations as their Casualty and Construction Risk Solutions Practice Leader in January 2020, bringing extensive experience of construction risk management to QBE, after 12 years working for other insurers in a variety of risk engineering management roles. Prior to that, Dave worked for a prominent risk management consultancy where he worked for over 15 years in a wide range of industries including construction, utilities, aerospace, heavy engineering and recycling. He started his career with the HSE working for several years as one of HM Inspectors. Dave is a Chartered Safety Practitioner and a member the Construction Insurance Risk Engineering Group. | Workshop: Mental Health – the hidden claims driver |
| Mott MacDonald | Senior Associate Risk Manager | Anna Dowle |  | Anna is a seasoned risk professional with a diverse background across various sectors and government departments. She has spearheaded effective risk management in multi-million-pound endeavours, ensuring that both threats and opportunities are well understood. A specialist in risk management at all levels, Anna has a focus on open communication. She is a skilled consultant, facilitator, and trainer, specialising in enterprise and strategic risk, as well as bid, portfolio, and project risk management. Helping businesses to identify and manage risks, she has developed robust continuity and crisis management strategies. | Quick fire presentation: Learning from failures – is AI the answer to effective risk management? |
| Zurich Commercial Insurance UK | Head of Energy, Marine & Construction | Richard Gordon |  | Richard is currently the Head of Energy Marine and Construction for Zurich Commercial Insurance UK based in London, UK. Before taking on this role, he has been Head of Construction for Zurich in London and Underwriting Manager for Engineering Lines for Zurich Commercial Insurance in Dubai, UAE. Prior to joining Zurich, he worked in Engineering Insurance as a Construction Underwriter with Infrassure Ltd based in Zurich, CH working in the Construction and Infrastructure Team. Richard is a Chartered Civil Engineer and Member of the Institution of Civil Engineer. He has worked on complex Infrastructure Projects in the UK and overseas in India and Kazakhstan. | Presentation & panel discussion: Major risks and insurance market outlook |
| Zurich Commercial Insurance UK | Head of Captives & ART | Esme Gould |  | Esme has 10 years of experience with Zurich Insurance in London. In early 2023 she was appointed Head of Captives & ART for Zurich UK, having spent the previous 9 years underwriting Energy & Heavy Industries for large multi-nationals in the London Market. Esme particularly enjoys working closely with customers and brokers to navigate complex international programmes, whilst also delivering continuous improvement in service and building differentiating propositions. | Panel discussion: Europe's changing captives landscape |
| Aon | Design Firms Specialist Risks | Oliver Heaton |  | - | Quick fire presentation: Professional liability – what to expect next |
| Aon | Senior Vice President | Todd Henderson |  | - | Panel discussion: Europe's changing captives landscape |
| Laing O'Rourke | Project Director | Gareth Jacques |  | Gareth Jacques, Project Director for Laing O’Rourke, has a long history of successfully delivering major infrastructure and building projects across the UK, most recently the new 52,000-seater Everton Stadium in Merseyside. With more than 30 years’ experience in construction he knows how to bring a motivated team together to plan complex logistics, manage the expectations of multiple stakeholders and deliver large-scale developments across various sectors. In addition to his recent stadium experience, his portfolio includes the redevelopment of Manchester Airport’s Terminal 2, delivery of Jaguar Land Rover’s Gaydon Triangle facility in Warwickshire, the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, and Laing O’Rourke’s own Centre of Excellence for Modern Construction in Worksop. | Fireside discussion: Managing sports stadia construction – Everton Football Club |
| Descartes Underwriting | Commercial Director, UK & Ireland | Matthew James |  | Matthew is the Commercial Director at Descartes Underwriting, a climate-focused MGA in the UK and Ireland, where he leads business development and works with brokers and clients to offer parametric insurance solutions against natural catastrophes and secondary perils. Previously, he spent ten years at WTW in Alternative Risk Transfer, specializing in parametric solutions for weather risk. He then served as Head of Business Development at OTT Risk, a parametric insurtech, driving new business and product structuring. Matthew has extensive experience in (re)insurance, with a focus on innovation in climate, agriculture, and micro-insurance. He holds an Investment Management Certificate, an Advanced Certificate from the Chartered Insurance Institute, and a B.A. in Politics from Durham University. | Presentation & panel discussion: When parametric solutions work |
| QBE Europe | Head of Construction & Engineering | Andy Kane |  | Andy has 31 years insurance industry experience with 26 years in the London Market, primarily underwriting and management of construction and engineering including liability classes. Andy has been involved in many large projects in the UK and overseas in renewable energy, power generation, transport and oil and gas. Andy has an HND in Natural Sciences, MBA and DipCII. Andy sits on the executive committees of the London Engineering Group and the International Association of Engineering Insurers (IMIA). | Panel discussion: Climate change and extreme weather – who bears the risk? |
| Aon | Managing Director, National Leader, Performance Security | Peter Kapler |  | Peter heads up Aon’s Canadian Performance Security practice group and manages the Subcontractor Default Insurance (SDI) product in Canada. Building on a decade of Surety underwriting, Peter’s responsibilities include Surety and SDI account management, customisation of risk transfer solutions, broking, development of risk mitigation programs, consultations on prequalification program implementation, as well as risk control, operational best practices and loss avoidance. | Presentation: Supply chain risk – identify, measure, manage and mitigate |
| Swiss Re | Director, UK & Ireland Public Sector Lead, Public Sector Solutions | Aidan Kerr |  | Aidan leads on Swiss Re's engagement with Government and the public sector in the UK and Ireland. He has over 20 years' experience in banking, consulting, Government, and insurance. Before joining Swiss Re, Aidan was COO at Flood Re, which enables affordable home insurance to be available for people at risk of flooding in the UK. He led the design, build and operation of Flood Re which has, to date, helped over 500,000 homes access affordable flood cover. Prior to Flood Re, Aidan was the Head of Investment and Funding for Flood Risk Management at the Environment Agency. | Panel discussion: Climate change and extreme weather – who bears the risk? |
| Allianz Commercial | Global Head of Construction Claims | Christian Kolbe |  | After working in the automobile industry developing diesel engine components, Christian joined Insurance in 2008 working as an Independent Loss Adjuster for Onshore Energy, Property, Engineering and Construction losses in different countries of Latin America, before leading a loss adjusting office in Brazil. He joined Allianz Commercial in 2018 and has been Claims Manager and Field Adjuster for Engineering and Property in Germany before joining Global Claims Key Case Management, recently also dealing with on/offshore wind/solar and IDI losses. In his current position, Christian is Global Head of Construction Claims, responsible for the Global Construction Claims book within AGCS. | Panel discussion: Claims – navigating four megatrends |
| SCOR & Executive Committee Member, IMIA | Global Head Construction | Isabelle Kowalski |  | Isabelle has worked for 27 years in the construction world, including six years as civil engineer and 21 years in the insurance and reinsurance industry. Since 2019 she has been Global Head Construction at SCOR Specialty Insurance, a member of the IMIA Executive committee, and is engaged in a number of working groups on ESG matters. She gained her experience in construction as site superintendent with Spie Batignolles and VINCI, as senior construction underwriter at SCOR, being lead market on a number of large projects around the world, and as senior practice leader at AXA Corporate Solutions, managing large corporate accounts on all construction lines. | Panel discussion: The importance of collaborative sharing |