President's blog

Invitations to attend events as CILA President seem to come along like buses. Having attended very few events over the winter period my attendance at the LBIA Dinner was rapidly followed by an invitation from Ian Templeton, the CII President, to attend the London Institute Centenary Lecture delivered by Patrick Snowball, Group Executive Director, Aviva UK. I was also honoured to be one of Ian’s invited guests at the luncheon thereafter.

A blog cannot do any form of justice to the lecture itself. All I will say is that it more than lived up to its challenging, albeit somewhat lengthy, title “The Biggest Challenges Facing the UK Insurance Industry in the next 5 years and the implications if we don’t rise to them.” Patrick’s presentation style allowed him to engage with his audience. This encouraged some very probing questions. He responded directly and with a refreshing openness to all the questions.

I have attended other luncheons in the Insurance Institute of London Centenary Programme – for my own edification. There has been a wide range of excellent presentations which have been well attended. Those of our members from outside the South East, but who visit London on an occasional basis, might well consider attending future programmes of the London Institute and other specialist groups (e.g., London Business Interruption Association). It represents an opportunity to meet with relevant people from the market and you can even consider inviting a guest. At the CILA we have details of the programmes and would be happy to advise you of events on particular dates.