Markel UK drives bold growth strategy under new leadership

Lee Mooney’s appointment as managing director of Markel UK marks a new growth phase for the company, a desire for deeper broker partnerships, and an ambitious product development programme.

His arrival sparked strong interest from the trade press and within his first few months in the role, Lee sat down with Insurance Times, Insurance Post and Insurance Age to share his plans, reinforce Markel’s strong broker focus, and outline his strategic vision for the years ahead.

Insurance Times: a desire to change 'at pace'

About 70% of Markel UK’s business is broker-driven. In his interview with Insurance Times, Lee was clear about his desire for the company to change quickly, including increasing its relevance and ‘share of wallet’ by giving brokers more reasons to choose Markel.

‘At the moment, we’re only relevant to certain brokers on certain products – we need to expand that and put more products on the shelf,’ Lee explained to Times’ editor, Katie Scott.

That means a wider product suite and additional trading options for brokers, with Lee stressing there are ‘very ambitious plans’ to boost eTrading options for brokers to take advantage of the ‘huge opportunity’ gap between digital and underwriter-led broker service.

Insurance Post: 1% market share 'not enough'

Now overseeing the full remit of Markel UK’s retail operation, including sales, tax and legal services, broker partnerships, marketing, and digital trading, Lee is focused on delivering against the wider Markel group’s global 2030 strategy. The aim of this is to double GWP globally, with the UK business aiming to make a strong contribution.

With this goal in mind, Markel’s current 1% share of the UK market is ‘just not big enough to be relevant’, as he told Insurance Post’s deputy editor, Scott McGee.

He continued the Insurance Post interview by saying that his wide-ranging plans include leveraging Markel’s international expertise, especially from Europe, Canada, and the US, to expand UK product offerings without ‘reinventing the wheel’.

This drive to increase relevance also includes enhanced eTrading capabilities and a larger regional presence. While Markel already has offices in key centres such as Leeds and Birmingham, there are plans for a wider footprint.

Insurance Age: strong desire to 'increase relevance' to brokers

Lee has inherited a profitable service and people-led business with a strong reputation as a specialist insurer. He describes the level of service Markel provides as ‘absolutely first class’.

The strategy is to build on that success by widening broker reach, boosting broker touchpoints, and expanding product offerings. With consistent five-star broker ratings, the platform to build out is firmly in place.

He reinforced this point when meeting with Insurance Age reporter, Rosie Simms: ‘At the moment, we are a very proud specialist lines insurer with a pedigree of profitable growth. But how do we put more products on the shelf so we can increase our relevance to brokers?’

‘Instead of looking at 5%, we can actually look at 40-50% of their business and be more relevant. So, we can give them and their customers more choice as well,’ he explained.

True to his word, Markel’s eTrade capability is already gaining pace. Contractors Combined and Charities Combined have recently launched on Acturis, with Management Liability and Life Sciences following soon, along with Cyber in 2026. The goal is to make trading fast and frictionless, without losing the specialist touch that defines Markel’s offer.

Investing in talent

To aid delivery on this ambition, Lee told the press that Markel is actively investing in talent. Product leaders are being hired to drive innovation, while sales and distribution teams are expanding in key regions like Birmingham, Leeds, and Manchester. These are experienced professionals embedded in local markets, with the ability and experience to make decisions and act quickly.

A key part of the drive is to build a culture within Markel of honest, proactive communication with brokers to maintain trust and retention – even when delivering difficult messages.

Strong ambitions backed by action

Lee described his leadership style as ‘exceptionally driven’ and ‘very approachable’ in his press meetings. His ambitious strategy has already begun. New products, new talent, new ways of trading, all built around broker needs and the market opportunity. This next phase of growth for Markel’s UK operations will require commitment, ambition, and the ability to listen and act upon broker needs.