Director Profiles | About Us | J.Bennett and Son

Simon Bennett ACII

Simon is the third generation to become Managing Director of the company, following in the footsteps of his father John, and grandfather Jake Bennett, who founded the company in 1908. Before joining the family business in 1974, Simon trained as a broker for two years at Lloyds of London and is a Chartered Insurance Broker and qualified as an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute (ACII).

Simon specializes in commercial insurance and has developed several schemes for the Leisure Industry.

Peter Dowlen ACII

Peter worked for a multi-national brokerage in the City for 10 years before joining J. Bennett & Son as a Director in 1984.

Peter is ACII qualified and has a sizeable portfolio of commercial clients. In addition, his passion for flying hot air balloons has led to the development of our Hot Air Balloon Scheme that insures over 300 balloons throughout the UK and Ireland.

Robert Newton ACII

Robert has 30 years experience in insurance broking and initially joined the company in 1972. He left in 1979 to develop the commercial lines division of J R Assurance Services in High Wycombe. That business was acquired by J Bennett & Son in 1989, and Robert rejoined J Bennett & Son as a director. A qualified Chartered Insurance Broker, he has specialist knowledge of Financial Risks and Commercial Insurance.

Robert is responsible for all aspects of the day to day running of the business from accounts and HR to ensuring that we keep up to date with the latest technology.

Steve Smart

Steve joined us as a non-executive Director in 2011. He has over 20 years experience in the industry having started as a Broker, before qualifying as a Solicitor and working for a number of Insurers.

He has held a number of high profile roles, including sitting on the GISC Disciplinary Tribunal, being Chairman of the IUA Legal and Regulatory Committee and a Member of the Bank of England’s Financial Markets Law Committee, he was also General Counsel for AIG (now Chartis insurance) in the UK and is currently a non-executive director of Lancashire Insurance Company.

Steve deals with the company strategy, compliance, and HR deployment.

Peter Sutcliffe

Peter has worked in insurance for over 30 years. He started in motor & personal lines in Birmingham and then moved south to work for a large broking chain before joining D G Carr & Co as a partner in 1991. Peter took over as a sole trader, following Derek Carr's retirement, in 1996 and ran D G Carr & Co successfully until 2009, when he was invited to join the board of J Bennett & Son.

Peter continues his commitment to D G Carr clients and has been responsible for their successful integration into J Bennett & Son. He has assumed responsibility for the development of the personal lines account, which comprises commercial connections and High Nett Worth clients.

Resource Protection International

"We have worked with J. Bennett & Son for more than 20 years and have always had an efficient and professional service. In these days where you usually end up with multi-choice answering services sending you round in circles, it is good to work with a company that has maintained that personal touch! We are confident that our relationship will continue over the coming years."