Aston Lark, a Howden company, has announced the appointment of a Regional Director to lead its new South Wales office.
The appointment follows an announcement in January regarding the opening of a new regional office in the Thames Valley, and one in South Wales, where Aston Lark will seek to drive growth and complement leading Welsh insurance broker Watkin Davies, a subsidiary of A-Plan Insurance, a Howden company.
Leading Aston Lark’s new office encompassing the whole of South Wales is Gary Stevens, formerly Area Director – Bristol and Wales for Towergate Insurance Brokers.
Gary has almost 40 years of experience in the insurance industry, of which 21 has been devoted to delivering insurance broking services in Wales.
As the first employee of Antur Insurance Services in 2001, Gary successfully grew the business year on year, bolstered by more than 10 broker acquisitions, before the business was sold to CCV (a subsidiary of Towergate Insurance Brokers) in 2011.
More recently, Gary held a variety of area and regional roles with Towergate Insurance Brokers, with his original remit of Swansea, gradually increasing to also encompass Cardiff and Bristol.
Gary strongly believes in the importance of developing and nurturing internal talent to thrive and succeed, “I am a Chartered Insurance Broker and feel it is extremely important for brokers and insurers to support the attainment of professional qualifications, maintaining a high level of understanding by attending CII seminars, and supporting local CII institutes through sponsoring industry events.
“My goal is to help establish Aston Lark as a leading insurance broker in Wales by attracting a team of talented individuals who can work together to help drive the business forward, while at the same time, providing opportunities for those with no experience in the industry to get a foot on the insurance career ladder. I’m looking forward to working closely with the team at Watkin Davies to help deliver more in person support and advice for our valued clients.”
South Wales is one of several strategic locations where Aston Lark intends to grow its headcount.
“Until recently, our focus has been on growing our business organically and through acquiring like-minded businesses with a compatible and complementary area of expertise”, said Warren Dickson, Aston Lark Managing Director – UK Retail.
“Becoming part of Howden in April 2022 opened up additional avenues for growth, including more investment in talent, individuals and offices, as we work towards achieving our goal of becoming the biggest and best British broker”, added Warren.