UNA Alliance

Having held our first UNA Board Meeting of the year, we were delighted to welcome a new UNA Board Member.

Gary Uren of SSR has recently taken over the helm from his colleague John Ludley, and here we learn more about his career in insurance....

 (Gary Uren pictured left, taking the baton from John Ludley)

Gary, tell us a bit about your career to date and how the world of insurance has altered since you started out? 

After being a bit all eggs in one basket trying to be a pro footballer, I started out in insurance in 1986 under the government training scheme at that time.  As my father bluntly put it, get out there and start earning some money.  Ironically, I was nearly doubling my insurance weekly wage of £27.50 playing amateur football every week at the time! 

UNA is delighted to report that it has once again been shortlisted for the prestigious Broker Innovation Awards.

The awards will be presented in September, when we will be seeking a hat-trick of wins in the Broker Network of the Year category.

Fingers crossed and congratulations to all involved!

Acrisure, a fast-growing fintech leader that operates a top-10 global insurance broker, has announced its acquisition of UNA Member Russell Scanlan, the distinguished bespoke insurance brokerage and risk manager. The deal is expected to close in the near term, pending FCA regulatory approvals.

To date in 2022, Acrisure has completed or has under letter of intent 100 acquisitions, continuing its industry-leading M&A pace. Established in Nottingham in 1881, Russell Scanlan prides itself on a strong professional pedigree built through advising on all forms of commercial insurance, from large corporates through to SMEs, across multiple and specialist sectors and also for private clients. As part of Acrisure, the Russell Scanlan team will now benefit from Acrisure’s global network of insurance peers as well as access to the Company’s world-class AI systems and technology. 

In the second of our Member Spotlight articles, this month it's the time of Berns Brett and more specifically, their Irish office.

Since Brexit, some UNA members have had issues dealing with Irish clients or Irish subsidiaries. By introducing BBi Ireland to UNA members, they can help with all your Irish risks. BBi Ireland provides quality independent advice on all aspects of corporate and personal insurance, risk management and business continuity.

In the first of our new series, each month we will be shining the spotlight on a UNA Member.

This month, it is the turn of Sutton Specialist Risks (SSR).     

As a UNA Member, they are one of our newest, joining formally in July 2018.  As a business however, they are over 30 years old based out of central Bristol. 

Their aim is to provide niche expertise and wholesale insurance products to meet the needs of clients operating predominantly in the security and fire protection industries.  They understand the importance of meeting the high expectations of brokers who are supporting their clients.