Niall McFerran

Experience

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  Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue

  Jul 1985 - Jan 2006

  Retained Fire-Fighter

  As a retained Fire-Fighter I carried out a number of roles during my time with the NIFRS which included school visits, prevention awareness campaigns to the more physical side of the job of attending fires (small & large) and serious road traffic collisions

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  Pearl Assurance

  Dec 1990 - Dec 2000

  Regional Sales Manager

  When I joined the Pearl it was initially on the life side as an agent with the role to retain and develop the current patch which included Glengormely, Newtownabbey, Greenisland and Carrickfergus. During this time I got more involved with the general insurance and accompanied the then BIA on numerous visit to prospects that I had sourced. I changed disciplines in 1994 and took up the role Business Insurance Advisor for the top half of Northern Ireland responsible for the development of the commercial book attached to the Belfast and Coleraine offices. In 2007 I was promoted to the role of Regional Sales Manger for Scotland and Northern Ireland working out of St Vincent Street Glasgow. The role entailed me having responsibility for the retention and development of the commercial account. I had a team of 14 direct reports, all of whom where LIW’s covering every post code within the region Show less

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  AXA

  Dec 2000 - Nov 2009

  Regional Sales Manager Northern Ireland & Scotland

  I managed a group of LIW's who where responsible for new business development and business retention within the region. Prior to taking up the RSM role I held the position of Account Executive, Business Development Manger and Sales & Operations Manger NI

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  Giles Insurance Bokers

  Nov 2009 - Nov 2013

  Regional Managing Director

  This position has seen me crossover from that of insurer to Broker. This was one of the most challenging periods during my career. In November 2009 I jioned Giles Insurance Brokers and opened the Belfast office. With the opening of This office, it provided the organisation with a true UK wide footprint. Within this role I had to build a brokerage from scratch, finding office accommodation, recruit staff and build relationships with both the local and London markets. Since its inception I have helped move the Giles organisation from a relatively unknown within the province to the Brokerage it is today. During this period I have been involved with the purchase of the AXA UK account in Northern Ireland and have seamlessly managed the integration of C J Higgins into Giles after its acquisition in 2010. The Giles operation was acquired by Arthur J. Gallagher in mid November 2013 and my primary objective now is to continue with the Gallagher growth ambitions which we will only be achieved by recruiting key individuals from the local market and looking for other potential acquisition opportunities. Show less

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  BCDA Limited

  Feb 2012 - Jun 2015

  Director

  This was a voluntary role, looking after a local Social Enterprise Project. Within the role I acted as the company Secretary and along with the other Directors we worked with the three funding organisations (Big Lottery, Larne Borough Council and DARD) to build a shop unit and Community Hall within the village of Ballygally. Once the building was up and running our core responsibility was to make the project sustainable. Whist very time consuming at times, this project did allowed me to use the key skill sets that I have and adapt them for the benefit of the local community. Along with the Plunkett Society and Big lottery Village SOS I have show cased this project and been able to give other community based groups across the UK advice on funding and hi-light pitfalls that we identified whilst carrying out the capital build project Show less

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  Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

  Nov 2013 - Aug 2014

  Regional Managing Director Northern Ireland

  After the acquisition off Giles by AJG I managed the local integration process

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  CIP Insurance Brokers Limited

  Sept 2014 - now

  Branch Director