TOM Duke, a veteran of Scotland’s high-growth technology sector, has joined Broker Insights, the Dundee-based tech firm whose digital platform is transforming the UK commercial insurance market.
Duke, who was a key figure in the development and ultimate sale of TVSquared, one of Scotland’s most successful technology ventures, has joined Broker Insights as Chief Operating Officer.
The company’s Broker Insights Vision platform, which brings brokers and insurers together, now has more than £2 billion gross written premiums (GWP) in the UK commercial insurance broker market and over 20% of the British regional broker market.
Founded in 2018, Broker Insights had a successful Series A funding round in 2021. With the new backing, the team expanded to 60 people and the company invested in its data science capabilities and analytics tools.
With a wealth of experience gained over 25 years in technology companies, Duke has worked with several fast-growing businesses, like Broker Insights, to design and develop products that can keep pace with the needs of rapidly evolving industries.
In his new role, Duke will apply his technical knowledge and expertise not only to Broker Insights’ award-winning platform, but to the operational challenge of ensuring that as the firm grows into new markets it continues to provide clients with a seamlessly smooth onboarding and user experience.
Fraser Edmond, Chief Executive of Broker Insights, said: “Tom arrives at Broker Insights at a crucial time for our company. His previous experience in leading transformational change in the pursuit of growth aligns perfectly with our ambitions.
“Our expansion into the United States, where we are undertaking a trial, is key to our international business plans. Tom’s insight and knowledge of scaling technology companies to prepare for this kind of expansion will be invaluable over the coming years. His experience at TVSquared in handling cloud-based infrastructure internationally, whilst responding to ever-growing customer demand, will be particularly important.”
As Chief Information Officer of TVSquared, which was acquired by the American firm Innovid in February 2022, Duke led on technical strategy and managed teams across the US and EMEA region to ensure the company’s vision became a reality.
Prior to that, Duke was the Operations Director at Brandwatch, and Chief Technology Officer at iBAHN, where he managed a global team to provide market-leading network and video products to the hospitality industry. He has also held senior-level positions at Memex, Orbital Software and Vision Consulting.
“Creating a great product – which Broker Insights has undoubtedly done – is only ever half the battle for technology firms,” said Duke.
“Platforms like ours need to be capable of handling billions of data points, at high speed, to produce the best outcomes possible for our clients and their customers.
“To do that successfully, while growing the business at pace, you need to build great infrastructure around the product and excellent processes within the organisation. That combination of technical and operational challenges is hugely motivating for me, and I have already been impressed by the vision and expertise of my new colleagues at Broker Insights and what they have achieved to date.”
Broker Insights’ award-winning platform connects leading insurers, such as Allianz, Axa, Aviva, Hiscox, QBE, CFC, Ecclesiastical, ERS, Markel, and HSB Engineering, with brokers. Currently, over £2 billion of commercial broker GWP is on the platform, with £1.6 billion from the UK’s regional commercial insurance market.
Duke joins Broker Insights following the recent appointment of Dr Artur Niemczewski as a Non-Executive Director, as the company continues its push into the US.
