Speaker information: Construction Risk Management

Company	Job Title	Name	Speaker Bio	Speaking At
Supplien Consulting	Director	Nick Wildgoose	Nick is a qualified accountant, supply chain and risk professional and has held a variety of global financial, procurement and commercial positions in several industry sectors. Working for companies such as PWC, Linde Group, The Virgin Group, Zurich Insurance Group and DHL Resilience360. He has served on the Board of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply which is the biggest procurement professional body in the world. He also served as a specialist advisor to the World Economic Forum and was Chairman of the Supply Chain Risk Leadership Council.	Presentation & panel discussion: Supply chain risk – identify, measure, manage and mitigate
Swiss Re Corporate Solutions	Head E&C UK	Cedric Wong	-	Presentation: Flood risk – the journey from knowledge to protection
Fenchurch Law	Senior Partner	David Pryce	David was a founding partner of Fenchurch Law, which was the first law firm in the UK to specialise exclusively in representing policyholders in insurance coverage disputes. Ranked as a leading individual by both Legal 500 and Chambers, David leads Fenchurch Law’s Reinsurance & International Risk practice group and has a particular focus on insurance disputes arising out of large construction projects both in the UK and abroad.	Presentation: LEG3 reform and Sky v Riverstone court ruling – market moving legal developments
Aon	Managing Director	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 & panel discussion: Supply chain risk – identify, measure, manage and mitigate
Aon	Executive Director	Peter Rudd	Peter has been working in the London market for the past 20 years and is currently the Chief Broking Officer for the Construction & Infrastructure group. He is responsible for the design and placement of major global onshore construction programs working with clients and the Aon network. Prior to joining the Aon Construction Team in August 2005, Peter obtained extensive experience working on major global construction projects with Marsh where he was the territory leader for Asia/Australia for onshore construction.	Workshop: Understanding regional insurance variations
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.	Presentation: Professional liability – what to expect next
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
SCOR	Global Practice Lead for Construction Claims	Paulina Herrington	Paulina has over 18 years of claims handling experience predominantly within CAR, EAR, onshore energy and power generation. Paulina joined SCOR UK in June 2022 as Global Practice Lead for Construction Claims where her focus is on managing large lead construction claims worldwide, with a large proportion of her portfolio being Builders Risk losses in the US. Prior to joining SCOR, she spent almost 11 years at Liberty Specialty Markets as a Senior Claims Specialist handling large and complex energy and construction claims. Before Liberty, Paulina spent 4 years working in the energy loss adjusting division of Charles Taylor. Paulina is also a deputy chair of the IUA’s Construction and Engineering Claims Committee which focuses on promoting good practice, hosting educational presentations and sharing industry insights within the London market claims community.	Panel discussion: The importance of collaborative sharing
Aon	Chief Commercial Officer, Construction & Infrastructure	Tariq Taherbhai	Tariq is the Chief Commercial Officer for Aon’s Global Construction & Infrastructure (C&I) industry specialty. In his role, Tariq is tasked with developing and implementing the global growth and marketing strategies for the specialty. In addition, Tariq works with other leaders to ensure that the full capabilities and expertise of Aon are properly delivered to the firm’s global C&I clients. Tariq has significant experience with project finance and public private partnerships, having advised on multiple large, complex projects over the past two decades. Before joining Aon, Tariq was vice president of the project legal group at Infrastructure Ontario, with responsibility for all legal and procurement matters related to public private partnerships procured by the Province of Ontario, Canada.	Panel discussion: Implications of US tariffs for the construction industry
HDI	Principle 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	France Head of Construction and Natural Resources	David Gierski	David has more than 25 years of service in the insurance industry with 20+ years spent on carrier side from field risk engineering up to group head of commercial lines. David served in Asia for couple of years. Since 2018 David has moved to broking and he joined AON as EMEA Property Broking Director in 2022. In his role, David is supporting program structuring including parametric insurance and alternative risk transfer.	Panel discussion: When parametric solutions work
Aon	Global Claims Leader, Construction & Infrastructure Industry Specialties Claims Leader, Asia	Clarence Ting	Clarence has been working in insurance since 2003. During this time he has been effectively managing Energy, Construction, Machinery Breakdown, Delay Start-Up and Business Interruption claims globally. Prior to joining Aon, he worked with global reinsurance firms leading their major and complex losses in the region. In his current role, he is a member of Aon’s Global Construction & Infrastructure Leadership team and a member of the Global Claims Leadership team delivering significant client value through Aon’s escalation protocols, and dedicated Claims Advocacy. Clarence is empaneled with the Singapore International Mediation Centre (SIMC) and a member of the Singapore Institute of Directors (SID).	Panel discussion: Claims – how to navigate megatrends
Allianz Commercial	Global Head of Construction	Darren Smart	Darren is Global Head of Construction at Allianz Commercial. He returned to Allianz in 2024, where he started his underwriting career as an underwriter at Allianz Cornhill (Allianz UK), before working at Trans Re as Assistant Vice President. He joined Liberty Specialty Markets in 2007 as Construction Regional Product Line Manager for EMEA, before becoming Global Construction Practice Leader role in 2016.	Panel discussion: Major risks and insurance market outlook
Zurich Commercial Insurance UK, Zurich Insurance Group	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
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.	Panel discussion: When parametric solutions work
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?
K&L Gates LLP	Partner, Construction Disputes	Matthew Walker	Matthew Walker is an international arbitration, litigation, and dispute resolution partner who focuses on construction law. Matthew acts as arbitrator and counsel in arbitration and has co-authored many leading practitioners' guides to arbitration in Qatar, including for LexisPSL, GAR Know How, Lexis Middle East, and Practical Law for Thomson Reuters. This has seen Matthew recognised in Who's Who Legal as recommended for arbitration in Qatar, as well as Thought Leader for construction. Matthew was awarded Lexology's Client Choice Award (voted on by clients) for 2024 for Arbitration & ADR in Qatar and is listed as a Global Elite Thought Leader by Lexology for his Client Choice accolade. He has been ranked in the UK by Chambers & Partners as Band 3 for Construction: International Arbitration (UK-wide) for 2025 and is recognised in The Legal 500 United Kingdom 2024 as a Recommended Lawyer for international arbitration in London, as well as for insurance litigation (policyholder), and construction: contentious and non-contentious.	Panel discussion: Delays on construction projects – managing and mitigating the risks
K&L Gates LLP	Partner, Head of Insurance Coverage	Sarah Turpin	Sarah Turpin is a partner in the Insurance Recovery and Counseling practice in London and joint global practice group coordinator. She represents policyholders seeking coverage under a broad range of insurance policies, including Professional Liability, Directors’ and Officers' Liability, Property/Business Interruption, Construction All Risks/DSU, Public/Product Liability and Cyber and Technology Risks. She acts for policyholders in relation to disputed insurance claims, if necessary, through mediation, litigation, or arbitration, and advises on claims notification and claims management issues. Sarah also advises on policy wordings at the pre-contract stage and on the inter-action between local and global policies.	Panel discussion: Delays on construction projects – managing and mitigating the risks
Network Rail	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?
Zurich Insurance Group	Head of Continental Europe & Canada Construction, Commercial Insurance	Richard Gordon	Before assuming his current position, Richard served as Head of Construction for Zurich in London and previously as Underwriting Manager for Engineering Lines with Zurich Commercial Insurance in Dubai, UAE. These roles involved extensive international engagement, particularly across the GCC region, and reinforced his expertise in complex infrastructure risks and multinational project portfolios. Richard began his Zurich career in 2015 as a Senior Underwriter. Prior to joining Zurich, he worked with Infrassure Ltd in Zurich, Switzerland, as a Construction Underwriter within the Construction and Infrastructure team, underwriting major international engineering projects. His professional foundation is in civil engineering, having worked on large scale infrastructure schemes in the UK as well as overseas in India and Kazakhstan.	Panel discussion: Major risks and insurance market outlook