Speakers
Speakers
Meet our speakers

Paul McGee
Sunday Times Bestselling Author
Paul McGee is a visiting professor at the University of Chester and a Sunday Times bestselling author. He is recognised as one of Europe’s leading speakers in the areas of change, resilience, well-being and self-leadership. He has worked with over 1,000 organisations worldwide and has spoken in 41 countries. His work has been endorsed by Sir Clive Woodward and has also seen him work for one of England’s leading football teams, Manchester City as a performance coach/sports psychologist. His style has been described as inspiring, engaging and entertaining – so be prepared to laugh as well as learn.

Carl Gurney
Renewable energy director
Marsh Commercial
As an executive advisory board member for ABDA, Carl is engrained in the renewable energy sector. With over 20 years’ experience in the insurance industry, he also heads up Marsh Commercial’s affinity relationships with the REA and ABDA.

Siân Barton
Editor
Insurance Age
Siân has been writing about the insurance sector since 2014 and is currently editor of Insurance Age.
@InsuranceSian

James Alexander
Lockton
Environmental practice leader
Theo Duchen
Co-CEO
Acturis
Theo is co-founder and co-CEO of the Acturis Group. He was previously a partner at McKinsey & Company, having joined McKinsey in 1991 and becoming a partner in 1997. He led McKinsey’s general insurance practice in the UK and was a member of McKinsey’s European insurance leadership group. Theo is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.

Sachin Gupta
Director
Manchester Underwriting Management
Sachin began his insurance career at Afro-Asian Insurance Services in 2004, during which time he developed a thorough understanding of reinsurance and international broking.
In 2007, Sachin joined Royal & Sun Alliance (now RSA) as an underwriter handling a wide variety of professional and financial risks.
Sachin joined the underwriting team at Manchester Underwriting in February 2010 and now sits on the board with responsibility for the UK PI underwriting.
Jeff McCracken
Sales and marketing director
Acturis
Jeff joined Acturis in 2012 with 20 years of industry experience with Close Premium Finance where he specialised in business development and e-commerce. He has a vast experience of managing strategic business relationships and heads up the Acturis sales and marketing function as well as managing a number of key broker, insurer and partner relationships.

Richard Webb
Director
Manchester Underwriting Management
Richard has over 35 years’ insurance experience and started his career with General Accident. In 2000, Richard moved to Hiscox Insurance Company where he took on responsibility for establishing the London Branch writing professional indemnity, commercial and high value household insurances.
During 2004, Richard moved to HCC International as a Director of the Professional Indemnity Division. In 2008, he took on the role of Head of Marketing & Broker Development working with all underwriting divisions of HCC International, before joining Manchester Underwriting Management in 2010, where he is the director with responsibility for Claims and for Marketing and Broker Development.
Thomas Stuart
Insurance development director
Acturis
As insurance development director, Thomas oversees the commercial lines products team at Acturis. Since he joined Acturis in 2004, he’s been working with brokers, insurers and MGAs shaping the current e-trade market and always looking to stretch the boundaries of digital insurance trading. Today, he is heavily involved in the formation of AI solutions at Acturis, helping brokers and underwriters tackle some of the trickiest productivity problems.

Michael Sicsic
managing director
Sicsic Advisory
Michael is a senior executive in the field of risk and regulation in the financial services sector, with a strong focus on insurance. He has a deep understanding of business models in the insurance sector and the related risks.
He has founded Sicsic Advisory, the London based boutique consultancy focusing on financial services risk and regulation, in 2019. His team has a unique combination of expertise gained through direct industry experience, consulting roles and regulatory supervision leadership role in the UK insurance market.
Before setting up his own company, Michael spent 4 years at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as head of supervision for the general insurance retail sector. Formerly, Michael spent five years at Aviva Plc. as Global Operational Risk Director covering Life Insurance, Asset Management and Non-Life insurance. Previously, he worked over 10 years at GE Capital in various senior risk and finance positions across commercial and corporate finance activities.
He has extensive international experience covering credit risk modelling and capital allocation, financial risk and ALM, operational risk management and quantification, conduct of business, financial crime compliance and M&A activity across multiple jurisdictions.
He is a liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Insurers.

Simon Staplehurst
Senior Research Director
FWD Consulting
Simon has worked in market insight and b2b strategy development across Financial Services, Automotive, Mobility, Technology, Energy and Media sectors for 25+ year.
With a focus on engaging with senior decision makers across large corporates, intermediary organisations, SMEs, influencers and HNWIs. Simon identifies and provides independent market insight to support the development of business competitive advantages.
Simon is currently Head of Insight at FWD Research. His previous positions include Head of International Media at Ipsos MORI, Founder of Octopus Research Consultancy and Commercial Insight Director at Bauer B2B.
Paul Davey
IDEX Consulting

David Carr
IDEX Consulting
Ravi Takhar
CEO
Bexhill
Ravi is the CEO of Bexhill UK, a London stock exchange listed finance company, that has operated in the premium finance market for over 20 years and has helped 100s of clients lend to their customers. Bexhill UK provides regulatory, software, operational and liquidity support to its customers. Ravi is an Oxford educated, city trained banking solicitor and former investment banker.

Roger Jackson
Partner, Insurance ESG Lead, UK
KPMG