In Person: Simon Cooter and Carolyn Callan, Covéa

Departures from insurance companies are often greeted with much gossip and conjecture.

You might get the ‘thank you for their hard work and dedication …” parting shot, but insurance being insurance, there is often [not positive] speculation about why someone exited their employer.

So with this in mind, it is pleasant to meet someone in Covéa’s former commercial and high net worth director Simon Cooter, who has very much left on his own terms.

“I always had the idea in my head that 55 years was the ideal time for a change of pace and the closer you get to it, you wonder if 60 might be better. But early last summer I was talking to my wife and because our kids had grown up - and frankly a couple of our friends had been poorly - we said should set aside some time for ourselves to do some stuff,” he explains.

“And so I told [Covéa UK CEO] James [Reader] in July [2018] that I wanted to finish this year, but added that I was not precious about when and would be happy to run the business until a replacement was found and work through any handover with whoever is taking over. So his job was to find a replacement and I carried on as if nothing had changed.”

Not Fergie-time
Covéa went public with Cooter’s departure in October, and the business started in earnest to find his replacement, a process that ended with the promotion of the business’ head of SME and schemes Carolyn Callan.

So how much did he get involved in the recruitment?

“I was involved only in the sense that I helped make a few introductions, but not in the selection process; that would have been weird and [former Manchester United manager] Alex Feguson-esque. But I am very pleased that Carolyn got the job and think it gives our employees and our brokers some real continuity.”

“It is always good to bring in outside talent, but Carolyn as part of the management team has worked on the strategy and is not someone who is going to come in and throw it up all in the air and start again. Someone who understands our ethos, how we deal with customers and the claims proposition, but also has a fresh pair of eyes. It is good to have a new leader, especially for me personally because of what I want to do, and for Covéa because after six years of running a business, it is probably time for someone else to run it.”

I liked [the role] because the business felt similar to Brit, in that it was a relatively small regional UK business that wanted to expand. The difference to me was that here I would be running the whole show in terms of underwriting and distribution rather than just distribution at Brit

Simon Cooter

“Gutted”
In terms of throwing her hat in the ring to replace Simon, Callan admits she took some convincing: “Simon told us he was going at the beginning of October, almost a year to the day I joined, and when he asked me if I was O.K, I said: ‘No, I’m gutted’. When he asked whether I had thought about throwing my hat in the ring’ I responded that it had not crossed my mind as I was more bothered that he was going.

“But he encouraged me to go for it and after a conversation with James Reader a week later I decided I would apply.”

Before joining Covéa, Cooter spent almost two decades at RSA, before joining the fledgling Brit regional push in March 2007 as distribution director, UK division. Following the acquisition by QBE he left in 2012, joining Covéa the following year as commercial director, a role he admits did not immediately strike him as the most attractive offer on the table.

“I liked [the role] because the business felt similar to Brit, in that it was a relatively small regional UK business that wanted to expand. The difference to me was that here I would be running the whole show in terms of underwriting and distribution rather than just distribution at Brit. And I liked the fact it was small and needed a change.

Initially unethusiastic
“But to be honest the first time I got the call I was not particularly enthusiastic about it. I had this picture of [predecessor company] MMA, which was probably unfair to be honest, as there were some great people here, but it did not necessarily have the leadership; and brokers want to work with people they know and trust and that was a bit lacking.”

Reflecting on the challenge he inherited, Cooter comments: “I took over just after Covéa had been formed following the MMA and Provident deal. At that point the commercial business had suffered from a lack of investment. It had £80m GWP and was not profitable; but we had some really good people and decent broker relationships, but not enough of either.

“And Covéa certainly did not have relationships with what I would consider the more progressive brokers. It was also clear to me that we needed to spend money to upgrade our proposition, improve our e-trading and invest in the regions.”

“One example of that was that I went to the Manchester office [in 2013] there was not enough space for all the staff when everyone was in; which for me was ridiculous because if you want the people you employ to do a good job you need to provide them with decent facilities,” he reminisces. “So we quickly put them into a newer, bigger office.”