NEXT GEN - Q&A + Networking with Senior Leaders

We’re delighted to invite you to a special Insurance Institute of Southampton Next Gen event — an exclusive in‑person networking evening with senior leaders from across the local insurance market.

📅 Date: Thursday 21st May 2026
🕒 Time: 6pm to 10pm
📍 Venue: The Ivy, Winchester

💷 Cost: £0.00

You’ll have the rare opportunity to meet and connect directly with:

• Ant Middle, Chief Executive Officer, Ageas UK
• James Nicholson, Chief Claims Officer, Zurich UK
• Nick Hobbs, Chief Distribution Officer, Allianz Commercial

This intimate networking evening is designed to give Next Gen members the chance to:

• Gain insight firsthand from senior leaders shaping the future of our industry
• Ask questions about leadership, career progression, and market direction
• Build valuable connections that support long‑term professional development
• Enjoy relaxed conversation in the elegant surroundings of The Ivy, Winchester

With such high‑profile guests joining us, spaces are extremely limited — early registration is strongly recommended.

👉 Register here: isabeau.allen@uk.zurich.com

We look forward to welcoming you for an engaging and inspiring evening.

During these events we want our members to hear from a variety of individuals with different career paths, showing that there isn’t just one way to succeed.

Given the panel for this event is made up of some of our male leaders, we’re particularly keen to spotlight female leaders within our industry at future events.

If you know someone who might be interested, or if you would be keen yourself, please do get in touch. We’d love to hear from you.

Speaker Bio's:

Ant Middle is the Chief Executive Officer of Ageas UK and is a key member of the international Ageas Group Business Committee, positively contributing to the successful growth of the broader business in Europe and Asia.

Under his leadership, Ageas UK has doubled its size in the personal lines market and has been recognised as “Top Employer” for four consecutive years by the Top Employer’s Institute. The company is also the largest personal lines insurer to achieve the prestigious ServiceMark accreditation with distinction from the Institute of Customer Service, with sentiment scores surpassing market and sector averages.

Ant’s tenure has brought significant accolades voted for by the market, including “Personal Lines Insurer of the Year” at the British Insurance Awards (2021-2023) and the Insurance Times Awards (2021, 2023, 2024), and he proudly acknowledges these achievements as a testament to the team’s collective effort.

Since joining Ageas in 2014, Ant has held pivotal roles such as Managing Director of Partnerships and Chief Customer Officer. He is also a Vice President of the Institute of Customer Service, acting as a critical friend to help strengthen its work in raising the standards of customer service. Ant was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the UK Customer Experience Awards (UKCXA) 2024.

In February 2023 James was appointed Chief Claims Officer having end to end responsibility for the Claims operation at Zurich Insurance UK. Prior to this, James was the Head of Expert and Commercial Insurance Claims, responsible for setting and implementing Zurich’s technical claims strategy for all lines of business and fraud.

James joined Zurich on the graduate programme in 1997 and has had a variety of leadership roles within Zurich, including Head of Global Corporate Claims, Head of Property & Specialty Claims and Property Branch Manager. He is passionate about customer advocacy, inclusivity and our future workforce.

Nick joined Allianz from CU/CGU in 2000 having previously worked in underwriting and trading. He has held a number of senior roles in the UK, US, and Germany as part of Allianz  - in broker and client management, global account management and as Head of Operations. 

Nick was formerly Chief Regions Officer for Allianz UK and was appointed to CDO for the expanded Allianz Commercial business in 2022. He is passionate about insurance professionalism and is a frequent spokesperson on Allianz, the insurance profession and great client outcomes.