Senior appointments announced this week cover construction risk advisory, legal expenses claims, specialty underwriting in continental Europe, motor fraud defence, and Nordic real estate.
Faris Nimri to lead Willis’ Western Europe construction business
Willis, a WTW business, has appointed Faris Nimri as head of construction for Western Europe.
Based in Switzerland, Nimri will report to Gemma Tait, head of construction for GB, Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Willis. In his new role, he will work alongside regional leadership teams to strengthen and develop Willis’ construction proposition across Western European markets.
Nimri joins Willis from Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, where he served as global head of renewable energy from May 2022. His responsibilities included overseeing global strategy, financial performance and operations across both the construction and operational stages of renewable energy projects.
Before entering the insurance industry, Nimri spent nearly a decade working as a project engineer in the construction sector across Australia and the Middle East. This experience provides him with direct technical knowledge of the construction risks he now advises on and brokers.
WTW’s construction market update for the third quarter of 2025 highlighted an increasingly competitive insurance environment, with rate reductions across many regions and greater capacity available at both primary and excess levels.
For construction clients managing cross-border projects in Western Europe, Nimri’s appointment adds further technical expertise, combining engineering experience with underwriting knowledge gained from large-scale renewable energy projects.
Liz Althorpe takes claims leadership role at Addept Insurance
Addept Insurance Services has appointed Liz Althorpe as claims manager, giving her strategic and operational responsibility for the company’s claims function across its legal expenses and ancillary insurance portfolio.
She will report to Kelly Jarrett, chief finance and operating officer.
Althorpe brings almost 30 years of claims experience spanning legal expenses, motor, SME, personal lines, and accident and health insurance. During her career, she has held senior claims management positions at Arthur J. Gallagher, Miller Insurance, RBS Insurance and McLarens.
Her appointment comes as Addept continues to broaden its distribution network. In June, the company entered into a multi-million-pound, five-year capacity agreement with Irwell Insurance to support the legal expenses portfolio launched in April 2025.
During the same period, approximately 140,000 policyholders moved from Atec Group’s add-on insurance portfolio to Addept.
Meanwhile, Lauren Woods, who joined Addept as head of claims operations in January, has moved into the newly created role of commercial partnerships manager.
Giacomo Mariani appointed Italy branch manager at Arch Insurance EU
Arch Insurance EU has appointed Giacomo Mariani as Italy branch manager, subject to regulatory approval.
Based in Milan, Mariani will oversee the branch’s day-to-day operations while also focusing on business development and broker relationships in the Italian market.
He joins Arch from Everest, where he served as head of Italy. His previous experience also includes team leadership roles at Aon and Zurich, and he brings more than 14 years of experience in the Italian insurance market.
The appointment follows the opening of Arch Insurance EU’s Milan office in April. The office began underwriting accident and health, cargo and logistics, fine art and specie, general liability, and property business immediately.
The Milan operation expands Arch’s existing European Union platform, which already includes branches in France and Spain writing casualty, cyber and financial lines.
The new leadership structure gives brokers placing Italian risks in areas such as cargo, fine art and specie, and mid-corporate property access to a local Arch contact in Milan, rather than directing enquiries through Dublin or Paris.
Mariani’s experience across Everest, Aon and Zurich also brings broad commercial lines expertise to the role.
Gary Herring to lead QGLaw’s credit hire team
QGLaw, the law firm within the QuestGates group, has appointed Gary Herring as partner and head of credit hire.
Herring joins from Keoghs, where he was partner and head of credit hire. He will lead QGLaw’s credit hire proposition while supporting the expansion of the firm’s fraud offering.
He specialised in credit hire defence at Keoghs from 2007 and has been involved in several significant legal cases.
His experience includes the 2017 Court of Appeal decision in Clayton v EUI, which clarified the law surrounding recoverable hire rates in favour of insurers.
Herring was also a key figure in the 2025 Court of Appeal case AXA v Spectra, which established that credit hire organisations may be held responsible for defendant insurers’ costs when a claim is unsuccessful.
According to QGLaw, Herring’s pre-action disclosure strategies helped reduce one insurer’s litigation rate from 94% to 35%. The firm also said he uncovered a document fraud that resulted in approximately £1 million in charges being withdrawn.
Herring is a member of the Forum of Insurance Lawyers’ credit hire sector focus team and is recognised in the Legal 500 and The Times Best Law Firms 2026.
Jonathan Lindé to head real estate at Lockton Sweden
Lockton has appointed Jonathan Lindé as head of real estate in Sweden.
Based in Stockholm, Lindé joins the company from Swedish broker Söderberg & Partners. He will focus on developing Lockton’s real estate proposition across Sweden, serving property owners, investors, developers and asset managers.
The appointment provides clients with Swedish real estate portfolios seeking cross-border risk advice with a dedicated Lockton contact in Stockholm. It also supports investors entering the Swedish market during the current recovery phase.
