Hiscox people: Mark Whitehead

Mark Whitehead

Time in insurance: I’ve worked in insurance since 2000. My first role was at Royal Sun Alliance (RSA), where I spent four years before moving to Blyth Valley. It was bought by Hiscox in 2011, which gave me a free pass into the company.

Background: Prior to my role at RSA, I actually worked in banking. I started at Barclays on its accelerated training programme in 1985 and stayed there until 2000.

Insurance speciality: Commercial. I deal with any kind of insurance that a business could need, from property and liability to cyber and data.

Last book read: I’m not a massive reader. In fact, the last book that I read was most likely an autobiography, probably by someone like Roy Keane. For holiday reading I tend to turn to sports magazines like FourFourTwo or The Cricketer.

Why did you join the Hiscox Reach team: The appeal of the Reach team was, in short, that it would allow me to work with small brokerages again, which I love doing.

Describe how you deliver great service: For me it’s all about working out exactly what my broker wants from me, when they want it and then delivering. It’s about making their job much easier.

What motivates and inspires you? I’m inspired by people who are positive and friendly. I’m motivated by the knowledge that I’m doing things well and in the right way.

What does success look like? Achieving the things that you’ve set out to do – so what my brokers expect from me – and then going above and beyond this. I map this out at the beginning of every day, saying, ‘This is what good is going to look like for me today.’

Best advice ever given to you? That you’re allowed to make any mistake you like. But only once.

What do you consider your greatest achievement? Professionally, it’s being part of a couple of great teams here at Hiscox. Personally, I have two daughters, both of whom I’m incredibly proud of, and I’ve completed five marathons.

What do you think sets Hiscox apart from the competition? The way that we do things, which is the right way. The people set us apart too – I’m very proud to work with such fantastic individuals.

What do you enjoy most about working for Hiscox? It’s the fact that the company’s values match mine. We treat others how we’d like to be treated, speak to others how we like to spoken to. When dealing with our customers, we consider how we personally would like an insurance policy to react.