Hi, I'm Mark Warburton, Director of Pioneer Search and Community Manager of Nexus Connect.
I've spent the last 25 years discussing all things people, tech, and change in the London Market. I'd like to introduce this platform and answer the question: What is Nexus Connect?
Nexus Connect will be a meeting point for storytellers and experts from across the specialty insurance market to discuss the rapid rate of industry innovation. Subjects will include moving to the cloud, the evolving role of a CISO within insurance, everything related to data, and discussions on how AI will shape the future of the market.
In the past three years, we've seen so much change; the modern workplace has witnessed the rise of the remote worker, meeting on video has become the new norm, the specialty insurance market has seen the rise of disruptors entering the market with cloud-native infrastructures, CEOs are questioning why so many desks are empty on Mondays and Fridays, and managers are being told to bring back workers to the office whilst they themselves are enjoying the new ways of working. In my day job, I'm constantly asked, “What is going on across the market?” and “What are other people doing?” In a pre-LinkedIn world, we would create meetups, newsletters, and share anecdotes and gossip to provide decision-makers with invaluable data to aid their own thought leadership.
Late last year, it occurred to me that no one was doing this for the unsung heroes of tech and change across the London market. We'll be sharing industry insights, publishing a unique specialty market salary survey with commentary around trends, running monthly meetups, and inviting your peers to share their stories in person.
Nexus is powered by Pioneer Search, a business I launched more than 10 years ago. I used an online thesaurus to create the name Pioneer Search. Taking a modern twist to that, this time I chose to use ChatGPT and I landed on the name Nexus, Latin for binding together. Nexus is often used to denote a common connection or link, intersection, or meeting point, and I immediately felt this is what I was hoping to achieve, a common shared community where like-minded peers could connect, meet, and discuss their worlds within the neutral environment of a not-for-profit community hub.
I believe the specialty insurance sector is about as unique as any industry out there, with so many organizations within the same postcode. We know that it is a highly relationship-driven marketplace and the face-to-face nature of the London and Lloyd's market is what sets it apart from other financial services, but I haven't heard anyone championing the tech and change teams that move the sector forward and innovate. While network-driven growth is key to any insurer, MGA, or broker in EC3, we mustn't forget the technical departments who are developing our industry, the change teams that are facilitating new projects, and the full IT unit that is simultaneously reducing the cost of doing business and enabling easier processing.
My objective with Nexus is to use the power of people to build a community that talks more, shares stories, and creates a forum that will only improve outcomes for all involved.
On the topic of positive outcomes, I wanted to share something we are very excited about: After so many years helping professional people with their careers, I also wanted to ensure that Nexus was able to give back in some way or another. With our headquarters in Southwark, I started looking locally and came across a worthy cause in the Southwark Stars Disability Football Club.
Throughout the 2024 and 2025 seasons, we will be sponsoring the inner-city team by providing training and match day kits for both the men's and women's teams, totalling 70 players. Our amazing marketing team will be running their social media and their website, and our team at Pioneer Search will be set on being their loudest cheerleaders! As part of any partnership, we will be looking at ways we can give back. In this case, we can support disabled players with little to no incomes, helping them to meet, connect, and play football. I hope some of our community members will join us in support of this worthy cause.
More details will be published on the Nexus Connect site and updated regularly as our support grows. For now, I would like to thank you for taking a few minutes to read our Nexus Connect introduction and I hope you share my enthusiasm for building this community over the coming months.
Please take a moment to take a look around our Connect Hub and follow our dedicated Nexus Connect LinkedIn page to stay informed of Industry Insights, Thought Leadership, Meet Ups, Events, Growth Guides and much more.
Thanks,
Mark Warburton
Director of Pioneer and Nexus Connect’s Community Manager
