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Our Directors
Non-Executive Chairman and Founder
Douw Steyn
Non-Executive Director
Stephen Klinkert
BGL Group Board |
Group Executive - comprises BGL Group Board plus: |
| Peter Winslow | Martin Overton |
| Ian Leech | Kal Samra |
| Matthew Donaldson | Andy Bord |
| Cheryl Clifford | David Thompson |
| Peter Thompson | |
| George Slade |
BGL Group Board Members
Peter Winslow, Group Chief Executive
Board Member
Peter qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1978 and went straight into the book publishing industry. He built up and sold a private niche publishing concern to Harper Collins, which he joined in 1989 as Finance Director. He went on to become Chief Executive at Harper Collins from 1990 to 1994.
Peter joined the BGL Group in 1995 as Deputy Managing Director and became Group Chief Executive in 1997, orchestrating a strategic change in direction as the company moved from operating as an insurance underwriter to broker. Presiding over a series of high profile acquisitions and leading the Group into new territories such as the affinity and price comparison markets, Peter and his management team have established the Group as a major player in the UK insurance arena.
Ian Leech, Deputy Chief Executive and Group Finance Director
Board Member
After graduating from Leeds University with a degree in Economics and qualifying as a Chartered Accountant, Ian held a number of senior positions in finance and operations at Forward Trust Group, the leasing subsidiary of HSBC. In 1997, Ian joined BGL as Finance Director and played a key role in the subsequent transformation of the business from insurance underwriter to intermediary .In 1999 Ian was promoted to Deputy Chief Executive, and since then has led a number of strategic acquisitions and the commercial structuring of major business partnerships. Ian is also a member of the international holding company board the Budget Holdings Group and assisted in the development of insurance businesses in Australia and Bermuda. Ian has over 24 years experience of working within regulated businesses within the financial services sector, both banking and insurance with specific emphasis on Treasury and Prudential management.
Ian's present executive responsibilities cover finance, planning, IT, acquisitions and pricing.
Matthew Donaldson, Group Director
Board Member
Matthew has 19 years experience of the insurance industry. Following the acquisition of the retail broker chain, Arnott Century in 1999, Matthew joined as Regional Sales & Operations Manager. After a period as National Sales & Operations Director, Matthew was appointed as Managing Director of Budget Retail Limited in 2002. Matthew's role was extended to include that of Group E-commerce Director, developing and executing the Group's initial e-commerce strategy.
In 2005 Matthew was appointed to the role of BGL Group Director. Since his appointment he has completed an MBA and now enjoys responsibility for five trading businesses (frontline, Bennetts, Junction, comparethemarket.com and ACM ulr), alongside Group Product Development. Matthew also holds a Non-Executive Director post with the Cambridge Building Society.
Cheryl Clifford, Group Director
Board Member
After graduating from the University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne with a degree in Sociology & Social Administration, Cheryl joined GEC Computers where she initially developed her career in project management. Several years later Cheryl transitioned to her career in human resource management.
Cheryl held HR Director roles within the IT and Engineering industries in the 1990s and from 1996 to 2002 she held the role of UK HR Director with a FTSE 250 company. She joined BGL as Group HR Director in April 2002.
Cheryl set up her own HR Consultancy business from 2004 to 2008 and also acted as Non-Executive Director for BGL Group and other external organisations.
In August 2008, Cheryl rejoined BGL Group in an executive capacity as Group Director with responsibility for HR, Learning and Development, Group Communications, Corporate Services and Fusion. She is also Non Executive Director with the Loughborough Building Society.
Executive Team Members
Martin Overton, Managing Director, ACM ULR
Executive Team Member
Martin Overton became Managing Director of the BGL Group's claims management arm, ACM ULR, in January 2009. He joined the BGL Group in April 2006 as Director of Commercial and Corporate Services, before moving to head up Business Development for Junction in 2007. He was previously Chief Operating Officer of Servista, a supplier of customer care and billing services.
A qualified barrister, Martin has a wealth of experience in business, commercial and proposition development. He began his career at Harveys of Bristol as General Counsel/Assistant Company Secretary and then moved to Eastern Energy (TXU) where he held a number of positions including Company Commercial Lawyer, Head of Group Strategy and subsequently Head of Business Development, before moving into management consultancy with Ernst & Young.
Kal Samra, Managing Director, comparethemarket.com
Executive Team Member
Kal Samra is Managing Director of comparethemarket.com, which has become a top UK price comparison site under her leadership. Established in 2006, the website has expanded from insurance comparison into a wide range of financial services. Kal's marketing expertise and 14 years' experience have proved vital in establishing the comparethemarket.com brand in a highly competitive marketplace. Her ambition for the business is to deliver the best experience in the market for both consumers and insurance providers.
Kal was appointed to her current role in July 2007, following two years as Managing Director of Bennetts - during which time she drove the brand to become market leader for bike insurance. An International Business and Spanish graduate, Kal joined the BGL Group in 2001 as Senior Marketing Manager for Bennetts. Previous roles included marketing analyst for Northcliffe Newspapers and promoting Inner City regeneration at the Derby Chamber of Commerce. Kal also spent a year in Madrid working for Ernst and Young Accountants.
Andy Bord, Managing Director, Frontline
Executive Team Member
Andy joined the BGL Group in 2008 as Director for Budget Insurance. Eighteen months later, in January 2010, he was promoted to the role of Managing Director of the Frontline business unit with responsibility for a number of our own-name brands including Budget, Dial Direct and ibuyeco. His experience in leading business transformation, particularly through strategic insight and commercial understanding, have played a vital role in shaping the future of BGL Group's own brands.
In his previous role at Vodafone, Andy was Head of Mobile Convergence where he led the development and launch of new broadband services and had accountability for both the Vodafone online and direct-sales businesses.
Andy has extensive operational and commercial experience gained during over 15 years in the telecoms sector including his role as Operations Director at the largest UK mobile service provider and Head of UK Calls at BT.
David Thompson, Managing Director, Fusion
Executive Team Member
David has over 10 years experience of managing complex sales and service environments at a senior level and a track record of managing significant operational change. David held the position of Director of Operations at Cygnific UK (KLM) and Toad plc, before moving to esure as Head of Operations.
David joined the Group in 2005 as Operations Director for Fusion where he has overall responsibility for service, performance & costs at the four Fusion sites. David's appointment to Managing Director means he now has full responsibility for the whole of the Fusion business.
Peter Thompson, Managing Director, Junction
Executive Team Member
Peter Thompson is a motivated professional with a proven track record of delivering results in a number of challenging roles. He joined BGL as Managing Director of Junction, the business-to-business arm of the Group in January 2008. Junction is a highly successful affinity outsourcing business and has ambitious targets including reaching £1billion GWP and three million policies by 2010.
Peter has spent 22 years working in the UK insurance industry, in both commercial and personal lines; two years in broking and 16 years at Royal and SunAlliance where he was responsible for non-motor personal lines corporate partnerships. A business-to-business specialist, Peter joined HBOS in 2003 as Head of Commercial Insurance and in 2005 became Managing Director of Partnerships for the Group, responsible for the profitable growth of multi product joint ventures and all intermediated insurance distribution.
George Slade, Chief Information Officer
Executive Team Member
George Slade is a business and technology professional with 24 years' experience in Information Technology across a wide range of sectors including electronics, oil exploration, IT solutions, manufacturing and telecommunications. He has also led several technical acquisitions and sales.
He joined BGL Group in 2010 as its Chief Information Officer. He was previously Chief Information Officer and Head of Security at Cable & Wireless, one of the world's leading telecommunicators, where he played a key role in the leadership team and was accountable for acquiring and re-engineering its technology and cost base.
Prior to this George was Global IT Head for Marconi where he orchestrated and led the Global IT stream sale of Marconi to Ericsson.
George has a strong commercial focus on the role of existing and developing technology in all aspects of customer service.