There is no doubt that 2020 has been a challenging year for us all. However, as we say goodbye to 2020 and move forward into a healthy and happy 2021 we’d like to take a moment to appreciate and reflect on some of the highlights of 2020 for us at Concirrus.
1. Power20 Summit
At the start of the year in February, we hosted our very first Power20 Summit. Leaders from across the Marine Insurance industry gathered at One Moorgate Place where a community of like-minded digital visionaries got together to focus on harnessing new technologies to drive value in the Marine Insurance market.
Representatives including Alem Jasarevic, Chief Operating Officer at Skuld, Marcus Baker, Global Head of Marine and Cargo at Marsh JLT Specialty and Laurence Lee-Tsang-Tan, Head of Actuarial Analytics and Capital Management, at Willis Re shared their perspectives on direction, integration and the value they expect to see from digital tools moving forward. The event was a huge success, and we’d like to say thank you to everyone involved.
Interested in becoming part of the Power20 community? Get in touch.
2. Launch of Quest Automotive Fleet
We hosted the launch of Quest Automotive Fleet at the iconic London Transport Museum. Over a hundred representatives from all areas of automotive insurance and fleet management were in attendance, including exhibitors from our automotive partners gathered to learn about our approach to risk management. Speakers included Iwan Parry, Market Lead – New Mobility, TRL and Mike Russell, Managing Director, Head of Non- Specialty Claims UK & Ireland, Client Advisory Services, Marsh.
If you want to learn more about how we approach innovation within the automotive space, get in touch or visit our product page for more
3. Our Social Committee was formed!
At the start of the year the Concirrus Social Committee was formed! Representatives from each team were chosen to join the committee to host and organise monthly social events. In February, they hosted their first event - a pub quiz which was a great success! Little did we know how many quizzes we would be hosting this year...our social events have continued virtually throughout the year and we look forward to some in person socials next year when it is safe to do so.
4. International Women’s Day
In March we celebrated International Women’s Day. The theme this year was #EachforEqual, highlighting the fact that we all have a responsibility to encourage others to challenge stereotypes, act against bias and broaden perceptions. We marked the occasion with a special FedTalk (FedTalk’s are a chance for us to get together every Friday as a team and share knowledge.) The Concirrus women came together to each present some slides on the most inspirational women in their lives!
Some of the inspirational women included their mums, Sophie Power, Sylvia Earle and Serena Williams. The team also donated to Solace Women’s Aid a charity which exists to end the harm done through violence against women and girls.
5. Working from home
The culture and working environment within Concirrus allows us to innovate and produce great work together. However, in March, offices around the world were forced to close due to the global pandemic. At Concirrus, we strive to have a community that keeps employees engaged and we wanted to maintain this while WFH. Below are some of the creative ways we kept the team uplifted!
- DJ Craig
- Birthday videos
- FedTalks
- Exercise classes
- Mindfulness sessions/ Take a Break Thursday
- Slack Challenges, quizzes and competitions
6. Our team grew
We were lucky to have the opportunity to grow our team this year and we reached the huge milestone of 100 employees! This was with the help of our Head of Recruitment, Hamish Dunn, who joined the team in April. Representing women in tech is extremely important to us and we have been lucky enough to have lots of new talented women join the team in 2020. We are currently highlighting female tech Founders in our series #SheFounders. Read some of their inspirational journeys here.
If you’re interested in joining our team check out our careers page.
.
7. New Logos
This year we were excited to announce some fantastic new clients, such as Hiscox, North P&I Club, Beazley, Markel International and AEGIS London for Quest Marine. Sopp + Sopp for Automotive, and a new partnership with Vessels Value.
8. 2020 funding
In February, we closed our a $20 million Series B funding round led by AlbionVC. The funding also included participation from current investors IQ Capital, EOS Venture Partners and several angel investors. This exciting news was followed by CommerzVentures’s $6 million investment in July!
9. We launched the Concirrus Scramble
In April we launched the very first Concirrus Scramble, an internal competition to uncover innovative ideas around improving Concirrus’ working methods and products. ‘Think hackathon meets innovation meets prizes’. The best ideas went on be developed by individual teams over a six-week sprint with prizes up for grabs. Ultimately the judges settled on three fantastic ideas from our Product Designer, John Doyle, Product Manager, Sam Mellett and Engineering Lead, Shubam Aggarwal.
“I was humbled by the breadth and depth of the talent in the company combined with their willingness to go out of their way to put themselves forward. It's testimony to the company that we have such a supportive, ambitious and nurturing culture. The judging was made incredibly difficult, we were so pleased to see such a range of ideas across product improvements, internal tooling, technology, cost saving and larger strategic plays. There were never going to be any 'bad ideas' and this initiative was designed to encourage innovation, it was through that lens combined with the ability to get to prototype in 6-weeks on which we based our decisions.” - Andy Yeoman
10. Concirrus Questival – Eight years of Concirrus!
In June, we celebrated our eight anniversary! As a social bunch, we couldn’t let this milestone to go by without celebrating! So, what did we do? With the help of Zoom, we hosted our very own virtual festival ‘Questival’! Special festival treats, including wrist bands, face paints, glitter and disco lights were dispatched to the team and our resident DJ, Craig, dusted off his decks for the special occasion!
11. Project U.
During the Concirrus Scramble our Web Development Engineer, Andrew Collins Sandbox Day pitch got full marks and the leadership decided to go forward with his idea and work with Andrew to develop his idea that become Project U. Project U. gives our team dedicated time, within work hours, to concentrate on developing new skills that will benefit their career. This has given our team the opportunity to uncover new talents and explore their potential. Some of the team have even shared some of their new skills with the wider team during FedTalks throughout the year.
12. Announcing Submissions
In August we announced our new submissions module designed to help marine underwriters accelerate the digital assessment of new business.
Product Director, Will Panchaud, comments: “We’re heading into an age of automation as the insurance market becomes increasingly digital. It has never been more important to make the underwriting process as efficient as possible. Our new submissions module helps underwriters spend more time on portfolio management, complex risks, and negotiation, whilst technology automates the rest. With data-led decisions becoming the norm, the speed and accuracy of triaging submissions will be a key consideration of the insurers of tomorrow.”
13. IUMI James Whitlam
In September, James Whitlam, presented at the very first virtual International Union of Marine Insurance conference hosted in Stockholm. James presented in the prestigious President's Workshop, sharing his insights on the latest global vessel movement trends. Find the recording here.
See more of James insights on how COVID-19 has impacted the shipping industry here.
14. We launched the Diversity Network
Diversity and inclusion have always been at the heart of the company culture at Concirrus and we are proud of the diverse team we’ve built over the years. However, we recognised that we could be doing more. So, what did we do? We launched the Diversity Network to provide a safe platform for discussion and to allow us to celebrate the diversity of our amazing company! It is vital that every employee has the confidence to speak up, feel included and share their ideas that, ultimately, might lead to the next breakthrough or innovation!
15. Global Diversity Awareness Month
We celebrated ‘Global Diversity Awareness Month’ this year by hosting a special FedTalk. (FedTalk’s are a chance for us to get together every Friday as a team and share knowledge.) Some of Concirrus’ keen volunteers came together to share with the wider team more about their backgrounds, culture and celebratory traditions for a fun filled day celebrating what makes us all unique and different.
16. Fintech For All Charter
Founded in 2019 by Rosie Turner and Raj Ramanandi, InChorus is a tech for good company providing analytics & data-led training to build more inclusive workplaces. This year InChorus’ launched their FinTech For All five-point charter. We along with lots of other Insurtech’s and Fintech’s signed the charter to help our employees feel empowered and to use our platform to help implement positive changes within the tech industry.
Find out more here.
17. Beyond Covid: The Marine Insurance Resilience Blueprint
In October, we launched our Beyond Covid: The Marine Insurance Resilience Blueprint, which shares unique insights from leading experts at IUMI, Swiss Re, AEGIS London, Whitespace and others into the consequences of COVID-19 and key considerations for 2021. The Blueprint takes a closer look into how businesses have responded to COVID-19 with a laser focus on how digital transformation has turned challenges into a driving force for positive change. The report also highlights many of the cost and risk related complications that have come to the fore as a result of the global pandemic – complications that have impacted every corner of the industry.
Download the report here.
18 Diwali celebrations!
Diwali is the Indian festival of lights, usually lasting five days (starting on Saturday 14th November) and celebrated during the Hindu Lunisolar month Kartika. We celebrated Diwali with a special zoom event where the team got together to celebrate “Victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance”. Special shout out to our Senior Data Engineer, Palash Jain, for singing for us all!
Check out some of the teams beautiful diya decoration and rangoli below.
19. Marine insurance London 2020
In December we were thrilled to sponsor Marine Insurance London 2020 for the third year running, an event bringing key players within the marine insurance industry together. We hosted a Roundtable discussing 'Digital Marine Insurance and the Rise of the Machines' moderated by Liz Churchman, Co-Founder of ec-pr. While our Vice President, Head of Sales Mark, presented his keynote address discussing how digitalisation is empowering the marine insurance community.
Find out more here.
20. Photography competition
We rounded off the year with a photography competition! Photography is a form of self-expression and sharing photos can be a chance to inspire, celebrate memories and appreciate what we have around us! We have lots of talented photographers within Concirrus and we had some amazing entries. Congrats to our winner Software Development Engineer, Apoorva Chauhan! Her photo will be framed in our offices!
See the winning photo below.
“The lights reflected perfectly in dark water and it was thoughtful - The stillness of the mind radiates perfect reflection even in the darkest times.” - Andy Yeoman
These are just a few of some of the highlights that made 2020 an unforgettable year for Concirrus. We’d like to say a huge thank you our partners, clients and our team who stayed productive, worked hard and continued with a positive attitude even with a few hurdles in the way. Until next year... have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We look forward to what 2021 brings!
Make sure that you keep up to date with the latest Concirrus news on our website and socials, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.
If you want to join the team we’d love to hear from you so be sure to keep an eye out on our careers page for the latest job postings.
