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 |
| 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. | 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. | Panel discussion: Insurance market outlook |
| DAC Beachcroft | Partner | Sharon Hunter |  | - | Panel discussion: Market moving legal developments |
| 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 |
| 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. | |
| Chubb | Property and Energy European Technical Claims Lead | Andy McAvan |  | - | Presentation & panel discussion: Key trends driving construction claims |
| Aon | Head of Claims Advocacy – Construction & Infrastructure | Christopher Minter-Owen |  | - | Presentation & panel discussion: Key trends driving construction claims |
| Zurich Commercial Insurance UK | Head of Construction | Andrew Morris |  | Andrew is Head of Construction at Zurich Commercial Insurance UK, with over 35 years of experience underwriting all types of Construction business. Most recent roles prior to joining Zurich in February 2022 he was APAC Regional Head of Construction for Chubb based in Singapore, a role he held for seven years. Prior to this Andrew was Head of Construction Australia & New Zealand for Chubb based in Sydney which he held for three years. Before he moved to Australia he held various Regional UK underwriting roles with Chubb and Zurich. | Panel discussion: The importance of collaborative sharing |
| FERMA & Group Insurance and Insurable Risk Director, Johnson Matthey Plc | Vice President | Xavier Mutzig |  | - | Quick fire presentation: Risk managers on the march – FERMA survey |
| 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. | Panel discussion: Market moving legal developments |
| HDI UK & Ireland | Captive Manager | Dan Sammons |  | Dan Sammons joined HDI in February 2025 from AIG, where he held a variety of roles across the Alternative Risk Transfer and Captive Underwriting units, most recently as Head of Alternative Risk Solutions UK. In this newly created role at HDI, Sammons brings extensive experience in International Programmes, Captives and Alternative Risk Transfer to further enhance the firm’s proposition to deliver strategic long-term growth. Dan will lead HDI's Captives growth strategy across UK and Ireland, and help further cement HDI’s position as a global leader in Captives and Alternative Risk Transfer. | Panel discussion: Europe's changing Captives landscape |
| Aon | Practice Leader – EMEA Claims Preparation, Advocacy, and Valuation | Mike Sgarlata |  | - | Presentation & panel discussion: Key trends driving construction claims |
| Aon | Managing Director, Construction & Infrastructure | Simon Simpson |  | - | Panel discussion: The importance of collaborative sharing |
| Allianz Commercial | Global Head of Construction | Darren Smart |  | Darren is Global Head of Construction at Allianz Commercial. He returned to Allianz this year, 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. | Presentation: The major risks identified |