People with the desire
to make a difference

Ross Ainslie joined Bright Grey in 2002 as head of actuarial. He is now managing director.

Ross has worked in financial services for 20 years, specialising in protection products for the last 15. He joined Bright Grey from reinsurer General Cologne Re, where he worked in a number of business development and research roles. Ross previously worked at Scottish Provident, pricing and designing protection products.

"Protection from Bright Grey isn't just about a financial payout," he says. "For us, treating our customers fairly and supporting them as best we can when they make a claim is just as important. Our focus is on offering the best value to you and your clients, and we've built our product and service around these needs."

"If your client has to make a claim, we know they'll be going through a difficult time and will do all we can to help. That's why we put a claims assessor on the case to handle it to completion, so they have one point of contact and know who to call. And for menu plan owners we also make sure that a personal nurse adviser from our partner RED ARC Assured Limited gets in touch too, to see what advice and support they can offer. This is part of our unique Helping Hand service, which comes at no extra cost with all Bright Grey menu plans."

"When you choose a company to protect your clients, you want to choose a company that cares. And Bright Grey cares."

Ross has published work on insurance and annuity products and spoken at conferences in the UK and the US. He is currently a member of the Council of the Faculty of Actuaries.

Roger Edwards joined Bright Grey in 2001 as product director. He is now proposition director.

Roger has been developing and marketing financial services products for over 17 years, specialising in protection products for the last 12. He joined Bright Grey from Scottish Provident where he was head of product marketing.

Co-inventor of the 'protection menu' product, which is now an industry standard, Roger believes that modern menu plans, like protection from Bright Grey, provide the flexibility necessary to get the fit just right for every client.

"Presenting a range of covers under one plan makes the whole process simpler," he says. "It helps clients gain a better understanding of their options and the different levels of cover available. It also makes it easier for advisers to demonstrate the value for money that combining different levels of cover can bring."

A frequent press commentator on protection products, Roger has also chaired and spoken at many conferences in the UK and the US. He is currently a member of the ABI Protection Committee and a member of the ILAG Working Group.

Steve Streak joined Bright Grey in 2009 and holds the position of sales director.

Steve has spent 25 years working with intermediaries in the financial services market. He's a firm believer that protection should be at the core of all financial planning – and that advice, not price, will be key to future success.

"The protection gap remains huge here in the UK and often people don't realise they're underinsured. But without cover in place to protect people if things go wrong, savings can be quickly eroded, mortgages may not be paid and pension planning may have to stop entirely.

"It's essential that advisers don't lose sight of what's really important and always put a protection foundation in place. There’s so much opportunity for advisers to grow their business, doing what they do best – giving advice and really helping their clients with protection.

Bright Grey is totally dedicated to the intermediary channel and providing advisers with the service, products and sales tools they need to have valuable relationships with their clients."

Gordon Watson joined Bright Grey in 2004 as head of customer care operations. He is now operations director.

Having previously worked for Microsoft® and Virgin®, Gordon carries a wealth of knowledge in customer service and has been instrumental in the transformation of Bright Grey's service from good to great.

"Our core beliefs are built upon the desire to provide the very best support to advisers and their clients, who have chosen us to protect them," he says. "Our aim is simple and focuses on the delivery of service excellence by developing and encouraging people to excel.

We have a great team in place and they work hard with their colleagues across Bright Grey, and indeed our intermediary partners, to continually improve our service delivery and overall proposition."

Gordon is passionate about keeping one step ahead of the competition and has been delighted to track the continued improvement of our service over the years, which is reflected in us being awarded 5 stars in the Financial Adviser Service Awards, 3 years in a row - 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Jon Glen joined Bright Grey in 2005 as a business consultant. He is now commercial director.

Jon started his career as a divisional manager for an American sales company that was setting up an operation in Scotland. He then spent 5 years with Scottish Telecom, initially as an analyst and then as commercial manager for their call centre services division. Jon’s knowledge of systems and process design has helped to reshape many aspects of Bright Grey’s organisation – ultimately reducing costs and increasing profits. His experience in procurement and contract management has proved a valuable asset when dealing with our partners and suppliers.

"Contract negotiations are not just about achieving the lowest possible price – the deal has to make business sense for both parties or it will drive the wrong behaviour and eventually end up failing" he says. "Our aim is to have strong and mutually profitable relationships with our business partners”.

Jon is a strong advocate of the expression “knowledge is power”. The more we understand every facet of our business, particularly from the perspective of our customers, the easier it will be to achieve our ambition of becoming the number one protection business.