our team provides

World class
guidance

meet

Our expert
team

Talented, collaborative
and responsive

We understand that insurance is more than just a business transaction; it is about establishing trust, fostering long-term relationships and offering tailored solutions to our clients.

That is why we made it a priority to build a team of dedicated professionals who understand and believe in the power of relationships and the importance of traditional values.

Our team of experienced underwriters are experts in their fields, possessing in-depth knowledge of risk assessment and analysis. While we leverage cutting-edge technology to enhance our processes and modelling, we firmly believe that human insight and personal connections remain irreplaceable

Chief Executive Officer

Richard
Housley

Richard is driven by relationship-based underwriting and building business cultures that champion it.

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Founding Director

Rupert
Cousins

With decades of experience in insurance cycles, Rupert is adept at providing consistent capacity in a fluctuating marketplace.

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meet the

Board
directors

Andrew Wallas

Non-Executive Chair Board Member

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Richard Housley

Chief Executive Officer

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Rupert Cousins

Founding Director

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Suneeta Padda

Non-Executive Director Board Member

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Jon Newman

Chief Financial Officer
Pending Approval

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Peter Dalton

Non-Executive Director Board Member

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meet our

Leadership
team

Nicola Thompson

Chief Administration Officer

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Brendon Tham

Head of Exposure Management

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John Isachsen

Head of Claims

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Sara Valentine

CEO, Alchemy Upstream Energy

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Daniel Wright

CEO, Alchemy Digital

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Ian Bowler

CEO, Professional Indemnity

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Edouard Martin-Prud’homme

CEO Property

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Jonny Creagh Coen

Head of Strategic Relationships

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meet

Our
people

James Baker

Professional Indemnity Underwriter

+44 (0)7407 609 692

Jodie Bixby

Energy Assistant Underwriter

+44 (0)7392 448 547

Jessica Clements

Risk Analyst

+44 (0)7436 037 035

George Dalton

Risk Analyst

+44 (0)7586 629869

Keeley Handelaar

Professional Indemnity Underwriter

+44 (0)7392 499 082

Luke Howard

Property Underwriter

+44 (0)7407 636 711

Sharon Kreller

Operations Manager

Jimmy Lambert

Professional Indemnity Underwriter

+44 (0)7386 660 139

James Long

Property Underwriter

+44 (0)7407 689110

Steven Mitchell

CUO, Alchemy Digital

+44 (0)7515 380 876

Pritesh Patel

Solutions Architect

+44 (0)7867 150 746

Christopher Rutt

Senior Risk Analyst

+44 (0)7385 660 250

Chris Webber

Claims Manager

+44 (0)07385 471 241

Wade Grantham

Underwriting Assistant

+44 (0)7768 380758

Laura Tamas

Senior Claims Operations Analyst

+44 (0)7385 668 992

Mike Green

Energy Underwriter

+44 (0)7385 472 318

Richard Housley

Richard Housley began his insurance career in 1986 at Fenchurch Insurance Brokers Ltd, placing complex Property and Energy risks into the London and European markets. In 1996 he moved into Underwriting roles, progressing rapidly before joining  Axis in 2002 as CEO of the Specialty Lines division. Richard joined Flagstone Syndicate Management Ltd (later ANV Syndicate Management Ltd) in 2011, where he served as Director of Underwriting and Active Underwriter for Lloyd’s of London Syndicate 1861.  In 2014, he moved to Endurance Specialty (now Sompo International post-acquisition) where he was CEO of both the UK Insurance Company and the Lloyd’s Syndicate.

Richard is driven by relationship-based underwriting and building business cultures that champion it. Alongside this, he is a strong advocate for leveraging state-of-the-art technology to deliver the best possible outcomes that combine personalized service with cutting edge efficiency.

richard.housley@alchemyunderwriting.co.uk
+44 (0)7442 590 565

Rupert Cousins

Rupert’s Insurance career spans almost 35 years. He started out as a trainee underwriter in the Lloyd’s market in 1987 before assuming full responsibility of the Syndicate’s North American property portfolio in 1993. He spent the next 15 years working with two global insurers building and re-building their existing property businesses before joining Sompo International (then Endurance) in 2014 to help establish a dedicated long-term property platform within the London Market.  This subsequently evolved into the London Market / Europe Insurance Property unit of Sompo International.

Rupert has built lasting relationships with brokers and clients leading to consecutive renewals. With decades of experience in insurance market cycles, he has become adept at providing consistent capacity despite the fluctuations and challenges.

rupert.cousins@alchemyunderwriting.co.uk
+44 (0)7425 758537

Andrew Wallas

Andrew Wallas began his career with Lloyd’s of London in 1973.  Since then, he has spent over 35 years in the City starting and growing Lloyd’s insurance intermediaries.  His roles include Chief Executive of Nelson Hurst and Marsh Ltd, CEO and subsequently Chairman of Glencairn Ltd and CEO and Chairman of Andrew Wallas and Marsh Ltd.  He was also Non-Executive Chairman of Martello Underwriting Ltd.

Andrew is a pioneer in business culture and transformation and has written a game changing book – Business Alchemy: Exploring the inner unseen dynamics of the business.  Over the past 35 years, he has guided many business leaders and companies, both large and small, to fulfil their latent potential and he continues to deliver one to one coaching, group workshops or training programmes to senior board directors.  He has a natural intuition for spotting and nurturing talent and specializes in acquiring high quality teams of people who foster a culture of creative thinking.  His passion lies in showing people that there is an alternative strategy for doing business.

andrew.wallas@alchemyunderwriting.co.uk
+44 (0)7977 927838

Richard Housley

Richard Housley began his insurance career in 1986 at Fenchurch Insurance Brokers Ltd, placing complex Property and Energy risks into the London and European markets. In 1996 he moved into Underwriting roles, progressing rapidly before joining  Axis in 2002 as CEO of the Specialty Lines division. Richard joined Flagstone Syndicate Management Ltd (later ANV Syndicate Management Ltd) in 2011, where he served as Director of Underwriting and Active Underwriter for Lloyd’s of London Syndicate 1861.  In 2014, he moved to Endurance Specialty (now Sompo International post-acquisition) where he was CEO of both the UK Insurance Company and the Lloyd’s Syndicate.

Richard is driven by relationship-based underwriting and building business cultures that champion it. Alongside this, he is a strong advocate for leveraging state-of-the-art technology to deliver the best possible outcomes that combine personalized service with cutting edge efficiency.

richard.housley@alchemyunderwriting.co.uk
+44 (0)7442 590 565

Rupert Cousins

Rupert’s Insurance career spans almost 35 years. He started out as a trainee underwriter in the Lloyd’s market in 1987 before assuming full responsibility of the Syndicate’s North American property portfolio in 1993. He spent the next 15 years working with two global insurers building and re-building their existing property businesses before joining Sompo International (then Endurance) in 2014 to help establish a dedicated long-term property platform within the London Market.  This subsequently evolved into the London Market / Europe Insurance Property unit of Sompo International.

Rupert has built lasting relationships with brokers and clients leading to consecutive renewals. With decades of experience in insurance market cycles, he has become adept at providing consistent capacity despite the fluctuations and challenges.

rupert.cousins@alchemyunderwriting.co.uk
+44 (0)7425 758537

Suneeta Padda

Suneeta founded Padda Consulting in 2012 to support the insurance market to achieve and maintain compliance with UK and international regulatory requirements.

Suneeta started her career at the Financial Conduct Authority in 2005 and has since undertaken and managed a wide range of regulatory engagements for numerous firms across the insurance sector, holding senior positions within a numbers of these firms, including: Head of Group Compliance and Risk at Howden Broking Group, Head of Compliance for Amlin UK, Interim Head of Compliance and Regulatory Affairs at XL Catlin and her most recent position as Interim Head of Compliance at Lloyd’s of London.

Suneeta is a fellow Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Insurers and a Freeman of the City of London.  She is also a committee member of the independent Women in Insurance (iWIN).

full.name@alchemyunderwriting.co.uk

Jon Newman

Jon Newman started his finance career at Euler Trade Indemnity, before joining the specialist finance and insurance intermediary investor B.P. Marsh & Partners in 1999 where he was appointed a Director in 2001 and Group Finance Director in 2003.

In Jon’s 25 years at B.P Marsh he was responsible for the finance function and was instrumental in the group’s admission to AIM in 2006 and subsequent reporting to investors and the market. In addition, Jon also held a number of Non-Executive roles including Hyperion Insurance Group, CBC UK Ltd and Walsingham Motor Insurance where he managed the investments on behalf of B.P. Marsh through to successful exits.

Jon has a Business Studies degree from the University of Sheffield and is a Chartered Management Accountant and a member of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment.

Jon.newman@alchemyunderwriting.co.uk

Peter Dalton

Peter has over 35 years’ experience in the London insurance market, which he has supported with academic achievement by completing a Masters in Insurance and Risk Management (MSc) with distinction and obtaining fellowship status with the Chartered Insurance Institute (FCII).  Peter started his career in claims rising to Global Head of Claims of a medium-sized broker, before moving to more strategic roles including Administration Officer and Chief Risk Officer.

Having worked at medium-sized brokers going through constant transformation, Pete has amassed a broad range of experience and is an expert in change management.  He works closely with the management team to ensure the group has robust systems and controls with efficient and innovative products and processes for clients.

peter.dalton@cbcinsurance.co.uk
+44 (0)7719 328701

Nicola Thompson

Nicola Thompson began her insurance career at Catlin in 2007 working through various Group and UK Finance roles before progressing into the Business Planning and Underwriting Performance Space. In 2016, Nicola joined Endurance (Sompo International post-acquisition) originally to lead and build from scratch, the International Financial Planning & Analysis function and progressed to Global Insurance Head of Planning & Portfolio Analysis managing a global team of approximately 30 FTE’s and part of the Analytics Leadership team which covered Pricing, Cat Modelling and Performance Management.

Throughout her career, Nicola has provided support and input to C-Suite executives around Planning, Underwriting Performance, appraisal of new underwriting teams and various ad-hoc projects. Nicola has a BSc in Financial Management and is a CIMA qualified accountant.

nicola.thompson@alchemyunderwriting.co.uk
+44 (0)7436 037 108

Brendon Tham

Brendon began his insurance career at Hiscox in 2006 where following the events of 2004/05 there was a need to better understand catastrophe risk across the Insurance sector. He joined as an Analyst to work on the Property MGA portfolio, working closely with the Underwriting Team and providing cat analytics. A move to Markel International followed in 2008, where he worked across various roles rising to Head of Catastrophe Management. In 2014 he moved to Endurance, now known as Sompo International, to build out a completely new catastrophe modelling function. He designed and implemented a structure and workflow to support a rapidly expanding business across multiple lines. With an emphasis on automation, he ensured efficient management of large volumes of data to support pricing, aggregate management, and advanced analytics. He was most recently Head of Catostrophe for Global Insurance at Sompo International.

brendon.tham@alchemyunderwriting.co.uk
+44 (0)7442 936172

John Isachsen

John joined the claims team at Fenchurch Insurance Brokers Ltd in 1987, where he  specialised in International Property & Liability before moving to the North American claims team to manage complex Property and Energy claims. In 1999 he moved on to join a placing team that had left Fenchurch to start a Direct & Fac team at reinsurance broker Benfield.  Following 9/11 John moved from claims broking to working for insurer Faraday Syndicate 435, to assist them following the tragedy.  In 2006, following hurricanes, Katrina, Rita and Wilma, he moved to AXIS to strengthen their property claims offering. During his 12 years at AXIS John progressed to becoming Head of International Insurance Claims, Head of Claims for Syndicate 1686 and Head of Claims for AXIS Specialty Europe SE. In 2018 he joined DTW1991, a Syndicate specialising in Delegated Authority business as Head of Claims.

john.isachsen@alchemyunderwriting.co.uk
+44 (0)7739 788 009

Sara Valentine

Sara has 25 years of London Market experience having started her career in 2000 in the finance department at Brit Insurance where she studied her AAT finance exams, working towards becoming a chartered accountant.  In 2001, Sara changed paths moving to the Marine Division as an Underwriting Assistant on the newly formed Energy book.  In 2008, Sara took over the leadership of the Brit Energy team, directing a team of  Underwriters while becoming the youngest person in Brit history to be promoted to Class Underwriter.  Sara maintained and grew the Energy book over this period leading to her being awarded the Insurance Day Young Underwriter of the Year, and being recognised as a leader within the Lloyd’s Energy Market.  Sara remained at Brit until moving to Alchemy Underwriting in 2024.

sara.valentine@alchemyunderwriting.co.uk
+44 (0)7386 661 045

Daniel Wright

Daniel started in the Lloyd’s market in 1988 at John Poland and developed as an underwriter within Lloyd’s businesses until 2002, when he was part of the start-up team at Axis Capital. He was responsible for developing a London market delegated underwriting portfolio and managed the division through to 2010, as Executive Vice President responsible for both the Global MGA division in London and the Custom Accounts division in Atlanta. In 2011, he joined R&Q to develop a new specialist programs Lloyd’s syndicate, which incepted for business in 2013. His role as Active Underwriter included developing a streamlined and new approach to underwriting programmes business in the Lloyd’s market.

daniel.wright@alchemyunderwriting.co.uk
+44 (0)7545 843577

Ian Bowler

When Ian entered the insurance industry in 1991 as a graduate trainee Professional Indemnity Underwriter at Aegon Insurance UK, he cut his teeth on both London Market and Regional PI business. In 1994, he joined a newly established PI portfolio at QBE Insurance who were building out a London Market Company platform across multiple lines. He went on to spend 16 years with QBE, latterly as a Senior Underwriter, underwriting a diverse portfolio of business.

In 2010 he joined Axis Insurance as Head of UKPI, where he established a new PI portfolio and grew the book to $75m in three years. Four years later, he joined Endurance Worldwide (latterly Sompo) to establish a new PI portfolio as SVP Head of PI and grew the book to $150m GWP, with market beating profitability.

ian.bowler@alchemyunderwriting.co.uk
+44 (0)7810 631 412

Edouard Martin-Prud’homme

Ed started his insurance career at Willis Towers Watson in 2005, placing property and terrorism risks into the London and Global Markets. His role developed into Divisional Director of International Property where his client responsibilities included program structure design and market management. In 2011, Ed joined the Montpelier Syndicate at Lloyd’s as an underwriter to develop their International Property business. This was followed by an internal move to Montpelier Chicago in 2013 where he progressed to take charge of the Montpelier US property division. Following the acquisition of Montpelier by Endurance in 2016, Ed returned to London to assist with the development of the Endurance Global Property unit.  In 2017, Ed became Deputy Head of the London Market Property unit of Sompo International, post the acquisition of Endurance in the same year.

ed.martinprudhomme@alchemyunderwriting.co.uk
+44 (0)7585 577784

Jonny Creagh Coen

With four decades of experience in the insurance industry, Jonny Creagh Coen began his journey in 1984 at Sedgwick, where he established a strong foundation as a broker specializing in international property and casualty. In 1989, he joined Minet to lead the international specialty division and in 1996 he moved to Lowndes Lambert, which merged with the Heath and Fenchurch Groups. This led to his appointment as an Executive Director in the International Division, working across property, energy, marine, aviation, and construction.

In 2001, Jonny transitioned to the financial sector, joining Execution Ltd as a Partner and Equity Sales Trader, brokering to hedge funds and asset managers. During this time, he played a pivotal role in securing seed capital for Lancashire in 2005 and was instrumental in the launch of Execution Insurance Services in 2006. His expertise also contributed to the formation of the Barbican syndicate and several other successful fund-raising initiatives.

Jonny returned to the insurance industry in 2008, joining Lancashire in the underwriting sector, where he led investor relations and played a key role in the development of strategic ventures, including Accordion, the formation of Kinesis, and the acquisition of Lloyd’s vehicle Cathedral. At Lancashire, he cultivated a vast network of public fund managers, bankers, and industry analysts.

In 2018, he reunited with Richard Brindle at Fidelis as Head of Strategic Relationships, spearheading multiple capital raises, the Bifurcation and IPO of the balance sheet, and the expansion of the specialty portfolio from $50 million in 2018 to over $2 billion by 2024.

In January 2025, Jonny joined Richard and the team at Alchemy as Head of Strategic Relationships. With an extensive network spanning the insurance sector, publicly traded equities, private equity, and debt markets, he brings unparalleled expertise in driving strategic partnerships and capital solutions.

Jonny.creaghcoen@alchemyunderwriting.co.uk
+44 (0)7780 015 638

James Baker

james.baker@alchemyunderwriting.co.uk
+44 (0)7407 609 692

Jodie Bixby

jodie.bixby@alchemyunderwriting.co.uk
+44 (0)7392 448 547

Jessica Clements

jessica.clements@alchemyunderwriting.co.uk
+44 (0)7436 037 035

George Dalton

george.dalton@alchemyunderwriting.co.uk
+44 (0)7586 629869

Keeley Handelaar

keeley.handelaar@alchemyunderwriting.co.uk
+44 (0)7392 499 082

Luke Howard

luke.howard@alchemyunderwriting.co.uk
+44 (0)7407 636 711

Sharon Kreller

Sharon.kreller@alchemyunderwriting.co.uk

Jimmy Lambert

jimmy.lambert@alchemyunderwriting.co.uk
+44 (0)7386 660 139

James Long

james.long@alchemyunderwriting.co.uk
+44 (0)7407 689110

Steven Mitchell

steven.mitchell@alchemyunderwriting.co.uk
+44 (0)7515 380 876

Pritesh Patel

pritesh.patel@alchemyunderwriting.co.uk
+44 (0)7867 150 746

Christopher Rutt

Christopher.Rutt@alchemyunderwriting.co.uk
+44 (0)7385 660 250

Chris Webber

Chris.Webber@alchemyunderwriting.co.uk
+44 (0)07385 471 241

Wade Grantham

wade.grantham@alchemyunderwriting.co.uk
+44 (0)7768 380758

Laura Tamas

laura.thamas@alchemyunderwriting.co.uk
+44 (0)7385 668 992

Mike Green

mike.green@alchemyunderwriting.co.uk
+44 (0)7385 472 318