Mark Cliff
Chairman of Hastings Direct, and former Ageas UK retail and distribution CEO.
Mark is non-executive director of a number of insurance-related businesses, including Hastings and Hiscox UK. He holds a Board position with specialist MGA Avid Insurance and is a member of the Strategic Advisory Board of technology business Iotatech. He also acts as mentor and coach to senior individuals in the insurance industry.
Between 2015 and 2018, Mark was executive chairman and then CEO of Brightside Insurance. Prior to Brightside, he was chief executive of retail and distribution at Ageas Insurance, where he was responsible for all Ageas UK’s broker distribution and affinity relationships, as well as Ageas’s Kwik Fit Financial Services, Ageas Insurance Solutions, RIAS and Castle Cover.
He has also worked at AXA Insurance, where he held the position of markets managing director, and prior to AXA held a variety of senior roles during a 15-year career at RSA.
Andy Fairchild
Owner of consultancy firm Julyfourth Services and former CEO of Applied Systems Europe.
Andy’s career has included Board-level roles across the whole insurance value chain, including AXA, Footman James, Broker Network and Applied Systems, giving him an unrivalled breadth of knowledge across the industry.
However, he is perhaps best known as a champion for independent broking from his time as CEO of Broker Network. He continues to develop thought leadership on the future of broking in the UK, particularly on the use of data and e-trading.
Maxine Goddard
Former Senior Vice President at Sompo International
Maxine is an award-winning senior global operations leader who has been responsible for strategic initiatives from change and transformation to planning customer and broker development and with extensive experience leading complex, organisational transformation and sales management initiatives, client and digital delivery, managing global portfolios, and data analytics.
Recently, Maxine has been responsible for broker management and broker portfolio development as well as strategic initiatives in the distribution space. She has more than 25 years’ international experience across insurance, banking, oil & gas and the United Nations, in various operations management positions.
Maxine is a very active public speaker within the insurance industry. She chaired and facilitated the ABI Annual Diversity Summit in 2021 and the Women in Insurance Summit in 2023 as well as the IICF ESG conference in 2022.
Ian Hughes
Founder and CEO of Consumer Intelligence
Ian founded Consumer Intelligence with a vision to help build confidence in Financial Services. The company uses consumer research and mystery shopping to truly get under the skin of what is being bought and sold in the insurance market. This data-led approach to insight has made the company a go to provider of insight and intelligence for insurers, regulators, and the media.
Hayley Robinson
Non-Executive Director at Brit Syndicates and the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission
Hayley has had an extensive career with executive leadership roles at RSA, Aviva and Zurich across underwriting, claims and project management spanning the UK, Europe and emerging markets. She was a member of the ABI General Insurance Committee and has been part of advisory teams convened for the review of Pool Re and the setting up of Flood Re. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute.
In April 2024 she joined the Board of Brit Syndicates Ltd, where she is the Chair of the Risk Oversight Committee and a member of the Audit Committee, and in February 2025 she was appointed to the Board of the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission, where she is also a member of the Audit & Risk Committee.
Tony Tarquini
Founder and CEO of consultancy firm 5189 and former director of insurance for Pegasystems in EMEA.
Tony is a thought leader, advisor, mentor, conference speaker and chairman. Co-author of The InsurTECH Boo), he applied lessons learned in success and failure from an early life as an international athlete competing against the world’s elite, to forge a successful, high-profile career in insurance IT and consulting. He has won industry awards for IT innovation and created an extensive network of contacts and a strong reputation amongst the major players in the business.
Tony is a graduate in Economics and Accountancy from the University of Dundee and the advanced leadership programs of both INSEAD and Henley Business School.
David Williams
Experienced non-executive director and former AXA managing director for claims, underwriting and technical services.
David has more than 30 years’ experience in general insurance, with roles including reinsurance manager, casualty insurance manager, managing director for claims, and managing director of underwriting and technical services. In 2022 David moved to a Non Exec / Advisory career, and continues to support AXA and others on a consultancy basis.
David holds Non-Exec Director roles at Qlaims and Freedom Services Group / Action 365 and is also Consumer Duty Champion on the boards of these organisations. He is Chair of the Fire Protection Association (FPA) and was until recently Chair of RISC Authority. He was a Vice President of the CII nationally, a founding member of the joint CII / CILA Faculty of Claims, and Chair of the CII Underwriting Faculty for almost a decade.
David led AXA’s work on connected and autonomous vehicles, including work with five government-backed consortia. He was chair of the ABI Motor Committee and Autonomous Driving Group and sat on the ABI GIC for several years. He now sits on the newly-formed Thatcham Research Strategic Technical Advisory Board.