GRAHAM SMART TO TAKE ON PAN-EUROPEAN ROLE AS MCLARENS MOVES TO EMULATE UK SUCCESS ACROSS THE CONTINENT
UK and Europe operations will come together under one entity
McLarens, the global loss adjuster with a niche focus on commercial claims, has appointed Graham Smart to the newly created role of Managing Director for Europe. The announcement coincides with the retirement of UK Managing Director, Trevor Latimer, who will operate moving forward as a Non-Executive Director.
In addition to overseeing continued growth in the UK, Smart will be responsible for all operations across the continent, which currently includes fully owned offices in Belgium, France, Spain, Italy and Russia, as well as affiliate relationships in Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hungary, Iceland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
Smart, who has been a member of McLarens’ UK executive board since its UK re-launch in 2006, will aim to emulate the adjuster’s UK success across Europe. Since re-launching the UK business, McLarens has enjoyed substantial organic growth – opening 14 offices across the UK and Ireland and achieving a 12-fold increase in revenue – as well as announcing mergers with specialist adjusters Airclaims and Agrical.
A chartered adjuster with over two decades of experience in handling the full spectrum of commercial claims across all classes, including major and complex claims, Smart takes the UK reins from Trevor Latimer who retires after over 40 years in the profession. An industry veteran, Latimer was instrumental in the UK re-launch of McLarens in 2006, after leaving his position of Chief Operating Officer at GAB Robins. Smart will lead the existing UK executive board, which was recently boosted by the appointment of David Walker, formerly a key client director at Cunningham Lindsey, together with the continental European management team headed by Julian Worthington. Smart will also take the reporting line from the Agrical executive.
Vern Chalfant, Chairman and CEO, commented: “We see a great deal of potential across the European market and Graham, who has played an important role in our UK success to date, is an obvious candidate to take on this role. At 43 he’s in a unique position of having, in relative terms, age and enthusiasm on his side, but with the knowledge and experience that comes with over twenty years in loss adjusting. Graham’s a natural successor to Trevor Latimer and for those who have worked with McLarens in the past seven years, this will come as no surprise.
I’d also like to thank, on behalf of the whole McLarens team, Trevor, for his valued contribution to the business over the past seven years. We’ve gone from almost a standing start to being one of the major players on the UK scene and that is, in no small part, down to Trevor’s vision and expertise. His experience in loss adjusting is unrivaled and we’re delighted that he will continue to be a key part of the senior team as a Non-Executive Director”.
Graham Smart, Managing Director – Europe, commented: “It’s a hugely exciting time to be taking on this role. Appetites for specialist, traditional loss adjusting services are changing. The market is increasingly looking for choice and it’s no longer a case of one or two major companies dominating. What’s clear from some of the major panel announcements we’ve seen in recent years – from which both McLarens and others have benefited – is that there’s a growing appetite for a specialist, traditional loss adjusting and, as such, we’re confident that there’s still significant scope for further expansion across the UK and Europe. Our strategy across Europe is therefore focused on continued, calculated growth and we’ll be looking for potential acquisition opportunities – some of which we’re already scoping out – alongside organic expansion”.
