Peter Blanc

Peter Blanc

After starting his career in motor underwriting, Peter switched to broking, and eventually led a management buy-out of the UK commercial division of Farr in 2000 which he then named FMW Risk Services Ltd.  He grew this business to approximately £25m gross written premium before selling the business in December 2007 to Oval.  In 2012 Peter was appointed Chief Executive of Oval and he ran the business through until its eventual sale to Arthur J. Gallagher which completed in April 2014.

In May 2015 Peter concluded a management buy-in of Aston Scott and then led the merger with Lark Group in 2017.  As Group CEO of Aston Lark he now leads a business with nearly 800 staff across 28 locations in the UK and Ireland that writes nearly £400m of gross written premium. Aston Lark is backed by the merchant banking division of Goldman Sachs alongside Bowmark Capital LLP.

Peter is also non-executive chairman at Hastings Insurance Services Ltd, the broker arm of Hastings Direct, and is chairman of the Large Brokers’ Advisory Board at the British Insurance Brokers Insurance Association (BIBA).

Peter has just concluded a 9-year term as a trustee of the Essex Community Foundation which is an independent charitable trust improving the quality of life of people in Essex by investing and distributing funds on behalf of a wide range of donors.  Essex Community Foundation looks after over £40m worth of endowed funds and awards thousands of grants each year to a variety of voluntary organisations and projects.

Peter lives in Colchester with his wife, Sue, and has three children aged 19, 18 and 12 and his hobbies include tennis, swimming, shooting, golf and watching rugby.