Markel UK adopts ‘fluid’ approach to talent development to avoid ‘pigeonholing’ – Lee Mooney

Markel UK is an advocate of “fluid” career development pathways within its business, especially for graduates and apprentices, enabling new starters to test out different departments in order to better showcase “the fabric of what Markel is about” and avoid “certain pigeonholes” or “ways of working”, according to Lee Mooney, the specialist insurer’s managing director.

When Mooney joined Markel UK from Intact Insurance in June 2025, he told Insurance Times that recruiting more talent to bolster the insurer’s 450 headcount was an important priority – especially in terms of shoring up expertise around newly launched product lines, as well as reinforcing sales and distribution functions.

This focus on talent was, in part, designed to support Markel UK’s five-year growth strategy, Ambition 2030 – this launched in March 2025, pinpointing five pillars to help Markel UK double the size of its overall business over the plan’s duration.

Mooney’s approach to talent is to be “a lot more fluid” because he fundamentally believes that the UK general insurance (UKGI) industry is “not attracting very diverse and rich talent into the market”.

He therefore feels that the sector has a desperate need “to step up” here and although he is working closely with trade body the ABI on what can be done at an industry level around improving talent pipelines, Mooney is also striving to practice what he preaches within Markel UK too.

He said: “One thing I’m very passionate about is when we bring somebody [in] to join Markel UK, it’s not joining Markel to be a cargo underwriter – it’s joining Markel to be part of the Markel family.

“So, what we need to do is move our talent around and be a lot more fluid to make sure that if you join [the] claims [team, you] spend some time in underwriting, or if you join our law division, spend some time in the advice lines or in claims so you can truly understand the fabric of what Markel UK is about.

“We’re very passionate about making sure that our talent is fluid and we don’t just put them into a certain pigeonhole [or] a certain way of working. We bring people in to be the best version of themselves. We don’t sheep dip them [into] a certain way of doing things, certain way of speaking, etc. We want to bring talent in and make sure we can nurture [them].”

‘Robust’ supporting plans

Mooney emphasised that Markel UK is investing “completely across the piece” when it comes to talent – homing in on learning and development programmes and apprenticeships, as two examples.

Markel UK typically accepts two cohorts of apprentices a year – and plans to hire eight of its current apprentices and school levers in 2026.

However, running such programmes is not without challenge. Mooney explained that there is fierce competition for available roles, with apprentice slots for the insurer group’s law practice – Markel Law – filled years in advance, for example.

He continued: “We had over 1,000 applicants for two or three roles, so it’s significant to sieve through those applications to make sure we get the right talent. And we [are] talking two years in advance. So, we’ve already recruited our apprentices for two years’ time – they’re still in university.”

These numbers perfectly illustrate the current market-wide debate about supply and demand when it comes to available job roles – with interested entry level candidates in abundance, but suitable starting jobs at a much lower volume.

Revealing his perspective on how to combat this trend, Mooney said: “It’s just about being fluid.

“It’s about making sure if you put in that investment into bringing the best into the market and the best into your business, that you’ve got solutions at the end.

“Every graduate programme, every apprentice programme, it’s not just about that three-year window. It’s about what does their career look like and can we make sure we can service that because it’s a significant investment of our time, but of their time as well.

“It’s making [sure that] culturally and from a skill set perspective, it’s the perfect fit.”

Markel UK’s apprentices can take advantage of Mooney’s “fluid” approach to talent, experiencing different departments on rotation.

However, if an apprentice appointed to one division subsequently takes a fancy to working in a different function – potentially leaving a recruitment gap the business thought it had filled – Mooney described this as a “really good problem to have”.

He said: “We want talent to progress. We want talent to move around the organisation.

“For me, it’s just about having robust plans to make sure that when we bring apprentices into the business, it’s not one or two – it’s five to 10 to 20. It’s about putting them in a particular area for six months and then moving [them] into another area so they can understand what Markel UK is about.

“So, for me, it’s just about having robust plans to make sure we can constantly have that conveyor belt of people moving around the business. People find a particular area, they might go on for another six months in another area, but then they’ll go back to that [original division] because they’ve seen it and that’s what they want to do.

“It’s about not bringing talent in and saying ‘there you go’. It’s about opening the doors at Markel UK. Because we’re such a diverse business, there’s a role and an opportunity for everybody.”

The right players on the pitch

This fluidity around talent is also applicable when considering the volume of recruitment, with Mooney commenting that Markel UK has no set parameters around how many individuals it wishes to hire as part of Ambition 2030’s people focus.

He explained: “We’re actively looking at talent. We want more people to join us. [But] it’s absolutely fluid. It’s [finding] the right person for the right role with the right capability. It’s making sure we’re looking at emerging trends, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and technology. So, we’re recruiting [in] different ways. It’s about [sourcing] people with that technology knowledge, as well as sage old underwriters, as well as people that want to come in and just grow their career.

“We’re very fluid and very flexible. We’re not pigeonholing ourselves to specific numbers or mandates or quotas. It’s about making sure we can bring diverse skill sets to our business so we can further futureproof the next chapter we’re about to embark upon.”

Setting Markel UK up for the future is a key consideration for Mooney, who believes it is “critical that we’ve got the right players on the pitch”.

He continued: “The number one priority is making sure our people are absolutely all heading in the right direction, with the right culture, with the right value. That’s the absolute number one priority, making sure that our team steps up.

“We’re only here for a short period of time. Markel UK will exist long after I’ve gone, long after the team have gone – but the next chapter, which we’re responsible for, it’s critical that we’ve got the right players on the pitch.

“Everything pivots from having the right people on the pitch, whether it’s embracing AI, or whether it’s in our expertise in our law division, in our call centres, in our central businesses and underwriting divisions, just [making] sure we’ve got the right people.”