WHO ARE WE?
The Open GI User Group is an Independent body which was originally created to provide a voice to the many Insurance Brokers who used the original Misys Platform. Since that time, many changes have occurred in the Open GI business, which included the name change!
We are now the voice for Open GI Core, Core Cloud, Integrated Products, Powerplace, V6, V7 and Mobius Users.
The Group is a not for profit organisation who is run from the fees of it's Membership. The Committee is made up of Brokers and Open GI users from a variety of backgrounds, all with the sole purpose of helping guide the direction of Open GI products in a way to suit the General Insurance market.
All of the Committee are volunteers who meet 4 times a year, usually in Worcester and meet with high level representatives from Open GI to discuss the Memberships needs and the future plans of Open GI.
We are now the voice for Open GI Core, Core Cloud, Integrated Products, Powerplace, V6, V7 and Mobius Users.
The Group is a not for profit organisation who is run from the fees of it's Membership. The Committee is made up of Brokers and Open GI users from a variety of backgrounds, all with the sole purpose of helping guide the direction of Open GI products in a way to suit the General Insurance market.
All of the Committee are volunteers who meet 4 times a year, usually in Worcester and meet with high level representatives from Open GI to discuss the Memberships needs and the future plans of Open GI.
MEET YOUR COMMITTEE
MARC PONS-BURT - CHAIR (CTH Insurance)
Marc’s first job after leaving school in 1994 was with SAGA, travelling through various departments while learning the Insurance business and progressing to Customer Relations and then Training, including!
Moving in 1999 to a short stint at Swinton down in Folkestone, Marc had his first taste of broking and flourished. A chance conversation lead to a move to the Isle of Man which at the time wasn’t in Marc’s Geographical knowledge, so he got a shock when he arrived to Douglas on the 3rd January 2000 expecting to be on a Channel Island! Lesson learned, he worked for a couple of years with a local broker and cut his teeth on general broking, both Personal Lines and Commercial. Marc moved to C Tarleton Hodgson & Son Ltd in July 2003 as a Business Development Manager and has since moved on to become the Personal Lines Manager and main OGI contact. The brokers are the longest established independent Insurance Brokers on the Isle of Man and remain a dominant player in the ever-evolving offshore Island Market. Responsible for various schemes and bespoke underwriting of various personal lines products, he is constantly improving the OGI system within the company and making use of all of those “system notices” that so many people ignore! |
KATE MEAKIN - VICE-CHAIR (Eastlake Insurance)
Kate joined Eastlake & Beachell Ltd in 2010 as cover for maternity leave but 6 years later is still there!
Kate has spent time across each department in the business whilst studying for her insurance qualifications and has now gained her DipCII qualification. Her role has now spilt between insurance and the general running of the business which focuses on IT, the Open GI system and compliance. Kate joined the committee of the User Group in 2016 as she feels it is a valuable asset to the wider Open GI community. |
MARK SOLLIS - TREASURER (OneFiftyPercent.com)
Mark’s first “real” job was at a local Broker doing real Broker stuff – you know – writing the cover-notes, making the tea and trying hard not to keep doing mis-quotes out of the Eagle Star Rating guide – in fact all those things that are now done by machines (including the mis-quotes!).
From there and following some years underwriting NB and Renewals at GRE and specials at Sphere Drake, he made a slight career deviation when he started at Misys Dataller in 1988 as a Training Rep. 25 different jobs later and 3 Company name changes, 12 directors and 60 different direct reports (as well as fixing everything he was asked to fix!), Mark moved on to pastures new at Brightside Group. There he helped look after 7 key staff running, developing, maintaining, reporting on and updating, the Open GI platform for the retail side of the Group, with over 400 Open GI users. A later move “cross country” to The A&A Group Ltd in 2012, broadens his horizons with Open GI, CDL and SSP platforms to manage, maintain and upgrade – Happy Days …..!! Mark now runs an independent consultancy business to help Brokers get more from their back office systems. He says “My time spent at Open GI has given me a comprehensive understanding of all their products and services, as well as a working knowledge of how best to deliver usable value added solutions, through careful planning, in depth analysis and qualified user input”. Mark brings a valued technical resource to the team. |
MARK SEARCY - SECRETARY (Alan Blunden Insurance Brokers)
Mark has worked in Insurance since leaving education in 1989. Having started with a local broker in Nottingham, Mark went on to join a specialist Insurance Company and spent 14 years progressing from an underwriting administrator to Underwriting Director.
Marks’ background is predominately commercial and property risks. In 2011 Mark was offered a position to become a Director of Alan Blunden Insurance Brokers, which was a life long ambition to get into the broking world and moved from the Midlands to sunny Southend on Sea to run the retail broking division. Mark runs a team of enthusiastic members and is always looking for new ways to provide a first-class service to his clients and add value. He truly believes the future very much lies with the service and support a local broker can provide to clients. |
BRYAN WHITFIELD - PRESIDENT (JOHN RUSSELL INSURANCE SERVICES LTD)
Bryan started work in Insurance at the age of 16 direct from school, when the band he was in didn’t hit the Big Time.
He worked up from fetching the papers and sandwiches in a Birmingham brokers to doing the usual motor and household insurance, which included a few stars like Kenny Baker (R2 D2 in Star Wars), Bev Bevan and Jeff Lyn (ELO). Two years after moving to a West Bromwich Broker in 1978, Bryan looked for an IT system and eventually chose Misys. He has continued using the system in various guises even to this day where he now works at John Russell which he joined in 2005. Bryan regularly attended the User Group Meetings and like Phil, went to the loo and came back voted in as West Midlands Regional Chairman. In his 15- 20 years on the committee, he has been editor of the User Group magazine, Vice Chairman, Chairman and now President. “I have never been a ‘techie’ but I do know what I want the system to do.” Bryan goes on to explain that “The User Group has always been a voice for all types of user – techie and non-techie – and has helped hundreds of Companies and individuals over that time to get the best out of their systems and make the most from their investment in technology” |