Jelf insurance company to be renamed Marsh Commercial

Published by

Nicky Godding

Leading regional insurance company Jelf, is to be renamed Marsh Commercial next year.

Jelf was founded in 1989, and in 2015 became part of Marsh & McLennan Companies (MMC), a global leader in risk, strategy and people. In 2016 MMC acquired Bluefin and united them with Jelf.

Marsh Commercial will serve clients across three regions: North of England, South of England & Wales and Scotland & Northern Ireland as well as through its employee health and benefits, markets and networks; schemes and affinities; and private client businesses.

With the completion of the acquisition of JLT in April this year, and following on from the acquisitions of Bluefin in 2017 and Clark Thomson in 2018, Marsh Commercial has one of the UK's most extensive office networks, and will bring together a number of these locations to strengthen this local offering.

In addition, Marsh Commercial will create Enterprise Centres of Excellence around the UK that will be focused on providing smaller organisations with access to world-class risk and insurance advice.

Anthony Gruppo, CEO of Jelf, said: "As organisations have faced an increasingly complex landscape of risk issues, Jelf colleagues have worked collaboratively with those in Marsh to call on their wide ranging and global expertise. By including the Marsh name in ours, we make accessing that wider offering more seamless for those we serve.

"From Kirkwall to Plymouth, our colleagues told me that they want a simpler structure that brings decision making closer to the client. By co-locating colleagues where existing offices are close together we will strengthen our local presence thereby enhancing and building on the unrivalled offering we provide."

Marsh Commercial's EH&B business, which is part of Mercer Marsh Benefits (MMB), will be led by Rachel Riley who is currently MMB’s leader for small and mid-size enterprises.

Amanda Walton is appointed CEO of Marsh Commercial's Enterprise Centre of Excellence, which will also include its schemes and affinities business. In her previous role at Jelf, Ms Walton was managing director (MD) for the North region and Client Advisory Services.

In the regions, Mike Owen becomes CEO of the South of England & Wales region, Jonathan Webb becomes CEO of the North of England region and Ben Bailey becomes CEO of the Scotland & Northern Ireland region. Mike was formerly Jelf's MD for the South, Jonathan was Head of Marsh's Leeds office and Ben was MD for Jelf's Scotland & The Lakes region.

Anthony Gruppo added: "Marsh Commercial is a diverse community of colleagues serving a diverse community of clients. With this experienced leadership team, who will all report to me, we are well-placed to enhance our offering to clients and give our colleagues great opportunities to grow their careers."

Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe. After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts. She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.