Atec Group Appoints Steve Woodford CTO

Atec Group, the powerful insurance distribution and growth platform, has appointed Steve Woodford as CTO.  Steve was previously the CIO for BGL Group and CompareTheMarket.com, instrumental in its growth to become the UK’s number 1 aggregator site.

Steve Woodford replaces Andy Brown the outgoing Head of Technology at Atec who is retiring. 

Atec has undergone impressive organic growth over the past few years.  Steve’s appointment is indicative of the Group’s ambitions in appointing a high-calibre CTO to further drive the business in its next phase of growth both organically and through M&A.

Atec has always been at the forefront of tech-enabled insurance distribution and niche product and channel development.  The Group consists of Ceta, a leading digital niche personal lines broker, and the MGA Arkel. The business designs, distributes and underwrites a range of specialist home and leisure insurance products within the UK wholesale and retail personal lines market on behalf of over 350,000 policyholders. 

Steve Woodford is a senior C-Suite executive with a strong track record of leading bold technology-enabled business transformation for global organisations in fast-moving, highly regulated sectors. He has developed 30 years’ experience through Directorship positions with BGL Group (home of CompareTheMarket.com), NHS England, PwC and tech startups.  He is also currently an NED for NHS England, with responsibility as an Expert Advisor to the Board on the effective use of technology to transform the NHS. The role also includes active membership of both the Digital and Data Advisory Committee and the Cyber Security and Risk Committee. 

Brendan Devine, CEO of Atec, comments: “Atec already enjoys a market leading position in some of our niche lines markets, but we have significant headroom. Following our recent acquisition by Perwyn, we are now embarking on the next stage in our growth plan that will see us triple in the next 5 years to become a top 10 insurance broker. We have great talented people and many, like Steve, have come from big insurance companies and brought their skills and knowledge to bear.  We trust them to do what they do best and that has led to an exciting fast paced, performance driven, ‘just do it’ culture. We’re delighted to welcome Steve to the fold.  Together with the rest of the management team we are amassing quite the dream team!  

“The tech and data that we have sitting behind Atec is more akin to the largest insurers. Steve’s highly experienced and wise counsel will ensure that our technology and skills remain at the forefront, in line with our organic and M&A growth ambitions and helping to ensure that the businesses we acquire are onboarded and integrated seamlessly.

“My thanks and sincere best wishes go to Andy Brown, our outgoing Head of Technology who has served us so well over a significant number of years and we wish him all the best in his retirement.”