Admiral names former Direct Line head as new chair

UK insurer Admiral has appointed Annette Court as its new chair. She will replace Alastair Lyons when he retires in April.

Ms Court, who used to be chief executive of Direct Line, has been on the board of Admiral as a non-executive director since 2012. She is also on the board of insurance broker Jardine Lloyd Thompson and estate agent Foxtons.

Admiral announced in January that Mr Lyons would be stepping down after 16 years at the group.

Mr Lyons said:

I am delighted to have Annette take the chair at Admiral. She has been a strong contributor to the Board over the 5 years she has been a director and has chaired our remuneration committee sensitively and effectively. She both understands the industry extremely well given her executive experience and also what makes Admiral different, underpinning our success. I wish her and all my colleagues the very best for the future.

It will be the second major change at the top of Admiral in under a year. Last May David Stevenson took over as chief executive from Henry Engelhardt, who founded the group.