Leadership

Robert Brown joined the Board and was appointed as Group Chief Executive Officer on 16 June 2020. Prior to joining Charles Taylor Robert was CEO of AXA Global Corporate Solutions where he successfully led a team within the Corporate Solutions business to expand their product solutions and their client base. Prior to AXA, Robert spent 15 years at Aon in a variety of senior leadership roles in the UK and EMEA, including a 4-year period as CEO of Aon UK. More recently, he held the position of CEO of Aon Risk Solutions, EMEA, with overall leadership of 15,000 employees across 50 countries from 2011-14. Brown’s tenure in both roles saw a consistent focus on delivering great outcomes for clients. He has also held underwriting roles in commercial lines at global insurance carriers, including Zurich and AIG.

Steven Beard joined Charles Taylor in September 2023. Over the last 25 years Steven has held CEO, CFO and COO roles in professional services and insurances companies. Most recently he served as CFO at Ardonagh Specialty. Steven provides a broad range of experience and knowledge including financial, operational, and business strategy.

Edward Creasy re-joined the Board on 05 June 2020, having previously served on the board of Charles Taylor plc as Chairman from August 2015 to January 2020. Edward’s career in the insurance industry and at Lloyd’s, brings extensive experience to Charles Taylor. He also has an in-depth understanding of all aspects of board governance and regulation, having served for eight years, both as a Chief Executive Officer of a quoted and regulated insurance company and as a Senior Independent Director of an Investment Trust. He is currently a director of WR Berkley Syndicate Limited and Deputy Chairman of WR Berkley Syndicate Management Limited. Edward is also Senior Independent Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee at Pacific Horizon Investment Trust plc.

Chantel Garfield joined the Group in June 2015 as Head of Financial Planning and Analysis and was promoted to the role of Deputy Chief Financial Officer in January 2019. Chantel was promoted to Group CFO in 2020, providing financial forecasting and analysis required for making strategic and operational decisions. Prior to joining Charles Taylor, Chantel worked for Lexis Nexis, where she held a number of senior Finance and Accounting roles. Chantel is a qualified Chartered Accountant.

Richard joined Charles Taylor in 2014 as Performance and Strategy Director of Management Services – UK & International and became Group Corporate Development Director in 2015.  He was promoted to the role of Chief Operating Officer in April 2020.  He has recently taken on responsibility for the Adjusting and Technical Services business within Charles Taylor in October 2022.

Prior to joining Charles Taylor, Richard worked at Bain and Company as a Principal in the Financial Services team, working on growth and transformation strategy for insurers, banks and private equity clients.  He has a Master's degree in Manufacturing Engineering from the University of Cambridge.

Chris Schaffer joined the Group in September 2013 as Executive Vice President, Claims, Signal Administration, Inc. He was promoted to the role of President & CEO, Sage Adjusting LLC in December 2018, a position he held until July 2020 when he was again promoted to his current role of Chief Executive Officer – Charles Taylor TPA. Chris oversees Charles Taylor’s global third-party claims administration services. Chris began his career in 1995 in The Schaffer Companies Ltd where he rose to become the Executive Vice President & General Counsel. He later joined CorVel Corp where he was the Vice President National Sales. Immediately prior to joining Charles Taylor he was President, AS&G Claims Administration, Inc. Chris is a Licensed Attorney in Maryland, Washington DC, and South Carolina.

Arjun Ramdas joined the Group in September 2020 as Chief Executive Officer, InsureTech. Prior to joining Charles Taylor Arjun worked at Microsoft where he was the Practice Leader for Microsoft’s Consulting Services in the UK. Prior to his role at Microsoft, Arjun spent over a decade at Cognizant where he worked to build out Cognizant’s Management Consulting practice in key European markets in the UK, Germany, France, Switzerland & the Netherlands and he recruited a pan-European consulting team, before running an industry business in the UK.

Tamer Ozmen re-joined the Board on 05 June 2020 having previously served on the board of Charles Taylor plc as a Non-Executive Director from June 2017 to January 2020. Tamer is an accomplished technology professional with over 20 years of senior management experience. In addition to his Board role at Charles Taylor, he also currently sits on the Boards of Netcall Plc and IWP. Previously, he ran Microsoft UK Consultancy Services, which implemented cloud based digital transformation projects. Before joining Microsoft UK, Tamer was Managing Director of Microsoft Turkey over five years. Tamer began his career as part of the team that started Priceline.com in the US, he then ran Orange’s Online channels.

Jody Baker joined the Charles Taylor Group in July 2015 as Commercial Director at Charles Taylor Assistance (CEGA). He was promoted to his current role of Chief Executive, Charles Taylor Assistance in July 2020. Jody is responsible for the global medical assistance and claims handling business. Prior to joining Charles Taylor, Jody held senior positions as Head of Business Development in Mondial, Allianz and Cigna. 

Andy joined Charles Taylor Adjusting in 2008 having entered Loss Adjusting in 1985. Specializing in complex international product liability and recall losses, with market recognition in these areas. Andy has presented in Recall/Crisis Management seminars across Europe and USA. He coordinates risk and loss services for global corporations. He handles a broad spectrum of losses, including environmental, public liability claims. He has previously been based in offices in the Caribbean and Middle East.

Alison Black joined the Group in May 2021 as Chief People Officer and brings 21 years of human resources leadership experience to firm. She joined Charles Taylor from AXA where she served in a range of HR leadership roles, including as Global HR Director for AXA Corporate Solutions.  At Charles Taylor, Alison is a member of our Group Executive Committee and responsible for leading the global HR function and for driving the recruitment, development, retention, succession and reward of talent across the business.

John Pickersgill joined the Group in June 2021 as Chief Commercial Officer.  John is a member of our Charles Taylor Group Executive Committee.   He joined us from AXA XL where he served as Head of Global Client Management, and previously as Chief Commercial Officer for AXA Corporate Solutions. John is responsible for leading the firm’s commercial activity globally, including client engagement, business development and marketing.