Marshall Wooldridge Group, the Leeds-based broker that is part of Brown & Brown, has appointed Nick Pay managing director. He took up his new role in October and reports to Neil Thornton, managing director, Retail.
Marshall Wooldridge Group was acquired by Brown & Brown in 2016. In addition to Marshall Wooldridge (which celebrated 50 years of trading this year), the Group comprises ECS, Rotherham Insurance Brokers, Lawrence Fraser, Goldthorpe and Bush & Associates.
Neil Thornton has been overseeing the business for the last year. Commenting on his appointment, Neil Thornton said: “Nick is a highly experienced broker who worked with me at Bluefin back in 2015-2017. He was a successful, dedicated and enterprising regional manager at Bluefin, so it’s great news that he’ll be bringing his skills and experience to Marshall Wooldridge, our Yorkshire Hub business and a key component of the Brown & Brown retail business in the UK.”
Neil added: “Nick has spent his entire career in broking at some of the UK’s leading players, and I’m confident he will drive an exciting new phase for Marshall Wooldridge as the new MD.”
Nick Pay said: “The opportunity to be part of Brown & Brown was too good to pass up, and I’m really excited to be at the helm of Marshall Wooldridge and leading such a brilliant, entrepreneurial team of people.”
“Leeds is a key insurance broking hub, and I’m keen to build out our considerable strengths, attract the best talent to Marshall Wooldridge and continue to develop a strong pipeline here in Yorkshire.”
He said: “Brown & Brown has rapidly become a key player in the UK broking market; I’m hugely impressed by their commitment to team mates and the ‘forever company’ ethos. It’s an exciting time to be part of the group.”
Duncan Carter, CEO Retail said: Nick is an excellent choice to head up Marshall Wooldridge and I’m confident that the group will go from strength to strength under his leadership.”
“Brown & Brown Retail is becoming a ‘top pick’ for the best broking talent in the industry, as this latest appointment underlines.”
About Nick Pay
Nick began has over 30years’ experience in broking, is an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute, a Certified Member of the Institute of Risk Management and a Chartered Insurance Broker. He spent 10 years at Heath Lambert, and has taken on senior roles at Willis and Marsh and is a former Managing Director of a Lloyd’s Broker.
Prior to his new role at Marshall Wooldridge Group, he was head of Commercial at McClarrons, a North Yorkshire broker.