New Leadership for a New Era at ABL Insurance
2021 was a year of massive change for us here at ABL Group. We welcomed a huge team of new colleagues who joined the ABL family following our acquisition of Willis Towers Watson’s NI business, we moved to our new home here at City Quays, Belfast and officially became Northern Ireland largest commercial insurance brokerage and risk advisory business.
We now have an unparalleled level of expertise in our business, access to exclusive insurance products and a host of new products and new clients to help meet their goals in 2022 and beyond.
As part of the many changes we’ve made this year, we have appointed a new Managing Director. Shauna Graham, who joined ABL earlier in 2021 from WTW NI. Shauna will lead ABL into this new era, with Maurice Boyd taking up the role of overall Group Chief Executive and Stephen Carlisle as Group Managing Director.
“To be heading up ABL is a fabulous opportunity,” Shauna says. “We are now the largest commercial/corporate broker in NI and I believe we are the best.”
Her new role as managing director is clear – bringing together the newly acquired Willis Towers Watson NI business with the rest of the ABL business and growing, expanding and extending its reach and reputation as a leader in the insurance broking sector.
“When you looked at the two businesses, we were doing similar things but with expertise in different parts of the market, so the two businesses actually complement each other very well,” Shauna says. “My job is now to harness all of that knowledge and experience and bring it together.”
Shauna started with what became Willis Towers Watson back in 2000 – going straight into the firm after studying at Queen’s University.
And just as the company acquired WTW NI, Shauna marked more than two decades working with the company.
“During that time I worked across a range of roles, from trainee broker to Deputy Head of Office prior to the acquisition,” she said. “So I’ve got to really know the intricacies of the insurance business and the challenges our client’s face on a daily basis.”
“Part of my role is to bring the ABL business together as one, which is why I’m so excited to move into our new headquarters,” Shauna said. “We need a place, a flagship and a hub to bring everyone together. We like the flexibility of hybrid-working but in-person relationships are at the heart of what we do and will always remain so.”
“Growing the business is all part of the plan but the first step is making the most of our existing talent and attracting more people into the business. Like everything at ABL, it starts with the people.”
Parts of this blog have been taken from Shauna’s interview with Ulster Business in January 2021. You can read the full article here.