Who are you and what do you do?I’m the director responsible for Howden’s international professional indemnity and cyber business. I work in the professional indemnity team, which is the biggest team of that nature in London. My team looks after clients from all over the world, excluding the UK, but we have a particular focus on Canada, Australia and Israel.How did you end up in your current role?In 2009 I was approached by Howden because it was looking to expand its business and looking to get into Canadian casualty. I was recommended as a potential producer. The role just grew from there, first with new territories being added, then with new products being added. It has grown from just one person to running a whole team.What is your most memorable time in the industry?When I was lucky enough to spend some time on the US West Coast. When I was a young broker working for Willis, I was sent out to Los Angeles, which was an absolutely fantastic experience. I was working directly with a lot of very talented producers on a variety of lines of business. I think that experience definitely influenced me to want to take my career in that direction.What’s the worst job you have ever had?Probably it was when I was working at directory enquiries when I still a 6th-form student during my holidays. Aside from prank callers, the job was so monotonous my parents said I was starting to talk in my sleep, thinking I was still answering the telephone. I was quite relieved to go to university and escape that.What is the best deal you have done?Certainly the most memorable deal, and something I thought as a young broker put me on the map a bit, was when I was placing the banker’s blanket bond for a fairly distressed Korean bank. There were some raised eyebrows in the grey-haired, experienced financial institutions market, but after presenting the risk I managed to get the order and the programme ran very well. I always remember that deal as one of my favourites I put together.Who has had the biggest influence on your career?I think it would be David Howden. Even before joining Hyperion, I had heard so much about him and the whole success story, taking what started in 1994 as something with three people to something that was almost 4,000 at the time of the RK Harrison acquisition. I think having heard a lot about him and then getting the chance to work directly with him and see that entrepreneurialism first hand has been a big influence. It is inspiring how passionate he is with the business and the way he interacts with people. He always says people are the most important part of the business and I only hope I have managed to learn a few things along the way. If you could change one thing about the industry what would it be?Insurance, probably more in the past than it is now, used to be quite a closed industry and it was often based on who you knew, not what you knew. Coming from the north-east of England and not even knowing what Lloyd’s was until I started as a temp at a Lloyd’s broker was daunting to integrate into. But I do think actually there’s a pretty broad pool of people coming into the industry now and I just think I’d like to see that continuing to expand and for talented young people who want to get into the industry that is something that is supported and possible to people from all walks of life.If you did not work in the industry what job would you like to do?I’d probably be a politician. I stood as a Conservative candidate in 2010 and then again in 2013. I ran against David Miliband, the then-foreign secretary. I think I’ve always enjoyed the cut and thrust of political debates. What is the biggest challenge facing the industry?I think it is keeping apace of the new technology that is becoming available. We work in such a traditional industry, but one where huge efficiencies can be achieved over the coming years if we successfully deploy technology in certain areas. I think there will always be the need for knowledgeable, specialised brokers, but we really need to be able to bring technology in wherever it is possible.

How do you let your hair down?In London it is meeting up with friends in the many new bars and restaurants that are opening in Shoreditch, which is where I’m living. Or if it’s on the weekend, probably walking in the South Downs with my husband.If you could be anywhere in the world right now where would you be?Sitting under an umbrella in the garden with a great book and a glass of good wine in hand.What life lesson would you pass onto others?Remain true to what you believe in and firm in that when it is necessary. Sometimes decisions can be controversial and very unpopular but I don’t think you will ever regret a decision if you are doing it with the ultimate mind and it is something you really believe in.Where do you want to be in 10 years’ time?I hope I’ll still be working at Hyperion and if the past five years have been anything to go by, I expect it is going to be an exciting next few years and one that presents a lot of opportunities.What is your favourite...Sport? Rugby, but more from the interest of my husband rather than my own.Car? Citroën 2CV – good French traditional trusty motor vehicle.Meal? Something traditionally British like beef Wellington.Favourite book? This is a hard one because I studied English literature, but it is probably Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.Holiday destination? Italy.Music? Something from 1990s Britpop.Film? The classic Truly, Madly, Deeply.