Thomas Carroll, the Welsh insurance broking, risk and wealth management company which recently opened an office in Newport, has appointed Gareth Cotty as managing director of its broking arm.

Based at Thomas Carroll’s headquarters in Caerphilly, Gareth joins the group’s board of directors to head-up business insurance broking and claims management across South and West Wales, Herefordshire and London.

Thomas Carroll was recently named UK Insurance Broker of the Year at the 2018 British Insurance Awards.

A chartered insurance broker, Gareth has more than 20 years’ commercial insurance experience having worked at RSA Group, HSBC and Marsh, before joining Thomas Carroll as a business development executive in 2003.

Gareth was appointed director of Thomas Carroll’s insurance broking arm in 2012 and contributes heavily to Thomas Carroll’s corporate business relationships, working alongside group chief executive officer Rhys Thomas.

Gareth Cotty said: “It is exciting to be part of Thomas Carroll’s future growth ambitions. Culturally, little will change but we are always looking at ways in which we can further enhance our broking and claims expertise for the benefit of our clients.

"Adapting our business to meet the changing demands of our clients and the local business community contributes to our success. Further developing specialist areas such as cyber risk, legal indemnities and claims management will remain a priority and give us scope to grow.

"I’m looking forward to this opportunity and enhancing Thomas Carroll’s offering to clients across the regions we operate.

Rhys Thomas said: “Having worked in the business for 15 years, during a time in which we have doubled in size, Gareth has naturally evolved into this role.

"We invest in succession planning to actively develop future leaders. Gareth shares our passion about what we do, what makes us different and maintaining our independence.

"Our people are our greatest asset. Creating a platform for our people to learn, grow and develop is the secret to our long-term sustainability and will help us achieve our goal to double in size in ten years.”