McLarens creates chief commercial officer role

Graham Smart, Steven Wallace and Chris Panes have all taken on new roles at insurance services provider McLarens.

Smart has been appointed to the newly created role of chief commercial officer. He will oversee global commercial strategy and expansion of service offerings.

Having served as the McLarens managing director in the UK and Europe for more than five years, Smart will continue in a significant client service capacity.

The insurance services provider has also appointed Wallace as managing director for the UK and Ireland.

Wallace will oversee a network of 18 offices across the UK and Ireland, in addition to driving continued growth.

Panes, chief operating officer for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, will take direct responsibility for the McLarens European business, which expanded its footprint with the formation of a tripartite alliance with adjusting firms Polyexpert and Polyexpert last year.

Gary Brown, chief executive officer of McLarens, said: “We see a real opportunity to offer our customers an enhanced experience by providing a more seamless, integrated solutions strategy, which includes exploring opportunities to strengthen our traditional core services, as well as pursuing synergies in tangential markets.

“Graham and I have been discussing this position for years, and as we have ramped-up our strategic growth plan and continue to look for ways to strengthen partnerships with our clients, the timing is right to centralise our leadership efforts in this global commercial officer role.”

Smart added: “The market is undergoing significant change through disruption as technologies and new solutions emerge, yet there is a greater than ever desire for global market-leading loss adjusting and ancillary services. We are extremely well placed to take advantage of the opportunities to broaden our service portfolio and partner with clients in new ways. I am looking forward to working with Gary to set and support our strategic growth plans.”

Mark Dugdale