Aston Lark has announced the appointment of Warren Dickson as UK Retail Managing Director (subject to regulatory approval). Warren will join the company on 1 October 2020.
Warren brings over 30 years of insurance industry experience, the majority gained in senior Executive and Boardroom positions across all classes of insurance including personal, commercial and employee benefit lines. His previous roles include Sales & Marketing Director at Carole Nash, Managing Director at Fish Insurance and, from 2013-2018, CEO of Chase Templeton, a specialist Private Medical Insurance broker owned by Palatine Private Equity.
Under Warren’s leadership, Chase Templeton made 75 acquisitions, overhauled its sales distribution model, delivered significant organic growth and was eventually sold to the Ardonagh Group.
Peter Blanc explained: “Since Aston Scott and Lark came together in 2017, our business has practically doubled in size and our future plans are equally ambitious. Not only has our pace of M&A activity increased, but our group has also expanded into Ireland and the building of a London Market & Specialty platform.
“Stuart Rootham joined me in 2016 as Group MD and we have a great partnership. We have been discussing for some time that, with the ever-increasing interest in Aston Lark as a potential home for vendors and the responsibilities of leading a business of significant scale, it was important that our core UK Retail regional business had dedicated leadership to maximise the clear opportunities that exist.
“Warren is a fantastic hire for us. His track record of helping businesses drive strong organic growth is hugely impressive and his knowledge of the employee benefits intermediary market will be invaluable to us as we have strong ambition in that area. Stuart and I look forward to welcoming him on board soon.”
Warren says “I am delighted to be joining Aston Lark at this exciting time. I have been admiring the development of this business from afar and it is clear from my conversations with Peter and Stuart that they are really building something special. They speak with such passion about the business and I am privileged that they have entrusted me to take the UK Retail arm on its next chapter. The potential is enormous across their four core areas of focus – commercial, schemes, private clients and employee benefits and the ability to collaborate with our group colleagues in Ireland and in London Market & Specialty is also hugely helpful. I can’t wait to get started!”