Direct Line Insurance Group
plc announces significant leadership changes
2 May 2024
Direct Line Group ("The Group")
today announces three new appointments to its Executive Committee
to further strengthen its management capability and drive growth.
Craig Thornton is to be appointed Managing Director Home and
Growth, Martin Milliner as Managing
Director of Claims and Hugh Hessing as Chief Operating
Officer. All three appointments will report
directly to the CEO and are subject to regulatory
approval.
In addition, the Group announces two
further senior appointments: Roger Lowry as Director of Corporate
Affairs and Alexandra Hayes as Chief of Staff, to augment and strengthen the skills and experience of its
leadership team. Both appointments will
report directly to the CEO, Adam Winslow, and will attend the
Executive Committee.
In the role of Managing Director
Home and Growth, Craig Thornton will lead the Group's Home and
Growth insurance strategies across all brands and utilise his
impressive track record at ExCo level for the benefit of the
business more broadly. Craig joins the Group after
spending the last ten years at Lloyds Banking Group, where he was
General Insurance, Protection and Investments
Director.
Martin Milliner joins as Managing
Director of Claims and brings extensive claims experience and
expertise. He will drive the Group's ambition to build a market
leading claims function, delivering great service for customers and
increasing operational efficiency. He joins the Group from Allianz
where he was Claims Director and was previously Head of Operational
Claims and Director of Claimant Technical Services at LV=. Martin
is an industry thought leader and strategist and has sat on the
Thatcham and Insurance Fraud Bureau boards.
As Chief Operating Officer Hugh
Hessing will lead our Customer operations,
Procurement, and Transformation activity across DLG ensuring there
is a strong customer focus. Hugh has extensive experience in
these areas, having been UK Chief Operating Officer and UK Customer
Services Director at Aviva and CEO of Aviva Ireland. Hugh has also
led major transformation initiatives that delivered significant
outcomes whilst he was at Aviva and prior to that at KPMG. He has
most recently been running his own consultancy business in the
financial services sector.
Roger Lowry will join as Director of
Corporate Affairs to strengthen the Group's external and internal
communications. Roger was most recently Director of Communications
and Marketing at QBE Insurance. He brings a wealth of financial
services and regulatory experience having also held senior
positions at Royal Bank of Scotland and Ofcom.
Alexandra Hayes (Alex) will take up
the post of Chief of Staff to the CEO supporting him across the
Group's strategic priorities and deliverables. Alex joins from
Lloyd's where she has been Chief of Staff to the CEO. She has
extensive experience of driving results across a range of financial
services companies in various roles, along with multiple leadership
roles on operations as a Royal Engineers Officer in the British
Army.
Adam Winslow, Chief Executive Officer of Direct Line Group,
said:
"At our full
year results, I committed to strengthening our leadership team to
deliver the changes that are required. The new appointments I'm
announcing today will be central to
delivering our strategy to transform the Group. The calibre of these appointments is a testament to the
underlying strength and attractiveness of the business. The
experience and expertise of these leaders will make a significant
difference, not only in the areas they oversee, but also at ExCo
where they will provide strategic leadership and drive to shape the
future of our organisation."
For
further information, please contact:
Paul Smith
Director of Business Performance and
Investor Relations
Tel: +44 (0) 7795 811 263
Alan Oliver
Group Communications
Tel: +44 (0) 7385
481295
Notes:
This new joiner announcement
supplements the news of the recent appointment of Jane Poole as CFO
announced on the 10 April.
Direct Line Group announced that
Jane Poole is to be appointed as Group Chief Financial Officer of
the Company, subject to regulatory approval. Jane will join the
Board in October 2024, succeeding Neil Manser who has been in post
since January 2021.
Since 2021, Jane has been CFO for
Aviva's UK and Ireland General Insurance business, driving business
performance and improving profitability. Prior to this, Jane was
CFO for Royal & Sun Alliance (RSA) UK & International
businesses having held senior Finance roles at the insurer since
2006. Jane qualified as a Chartered Accountant with
PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Start dates:
· Roger
Lowry, Director of Corporate Affairs: May
· Hugh
Hessing, Chief Operating Officer: July
· Alexandra Hayes, Chief of Staff: August
· Martin
Milliner, Director of Claims: October
· Craig
Thornton, Managing Director of Home and Growth: October
LEI: 213800FF2R23ALJQOP04