4th Sep 2007 07:02
BRIT Insurance Holdings PLC04 September 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 4 September 2007 Brit Insurance Holdings PLC JOHN BARTON APPOINTED TO SUCCEED CLIVE COATES AS CHAIRMAN Brit Insurance Holdings PLC, the UK-domiciled international general insurer andreinsurer, today announces that Clive Coates is due to retire as Chairman at theAGM on 15 May 2008. Mr Coates will be succeeded by John Barton, who is appointeda non-executive Director and Deputy Chairman of Brit Insurance Holdings PLC witheffect from 1 October 2007. Clive Coates said: "By next spring I will have served six years on the board,five and a half of which will have been as Chairman. It has been a time I haveenjoyed enormously and one in which the business has gone from strength tostrength. However, in line with the recommendations of the Combined Code inrelation to length of tenure for a non-executive director, earlier in the year Iasked the Nominations Committee Chairman to lead the appropriate successionprocess. I am delighted that the search has secured a Chairman designate withthe qualities and experience that John brings to take the Group forward." Commenting, Dane Douetil, Chief Executive Officer, says: "I am delighted thatJohn has agreed to join Brit Insurance. He brings a wealth of senior Cityexperience particularly from the insurance underwriting and broking industry butalso from the property and consumer retail arena. I am very much looking forwardto working with him and continuing developing a similarly strong relationshipthat I, and the rest of the board, have enjoyed with Clive Coates." Commenting, John Barton says: "I am delighted to be joining the board of BritInsurance and I look forward to working with Dane and the board on the futuredevelopment of the Group." Currently John Barton is Chairman of Next PLC. He is also a non-executivedirector of WH Smith PLC. He was formerly Chief Executive of JIB Group plc for13 years, Chairman of Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc for 5 years and Chairmanof Wellington Underwriting PLC for 5 years. This announcement is made pursuant to Listing Rule 9.6.14R. There are no otherdetails that are required to be disclosed in respect of John Barton'sappointment under Paragraph 9.6.13 of the Listing Rules of the UK ListingAuthority. -Ends- Enquiries Carne Curgenven/ Danielle O'Connell,Brit Insurance Holdings PLC 020 7984 8500 Peter Rigby/ Juliet TilleyHaggie Financial 020 7417 8989 Notes to Editors Brit Insurance's underwriting operations comprise three strategic businessunits: Brit Global Markets, Brit Reinsurance and Brit UK. All three have accessto the two regulatory vehicles through which Brit Insurance underwrites: BritInsurance Limited which is a UK FSA regulated insurance company and Lloyd'ssyndicate 2987 which is managed by Brit Syndicates Limited. Brit Insurance hasUK underwriting offices in London, Reading, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Leeds,Darlington, Ilford and Manchester. www.britinsurance.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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