Media Information

Stockport's Aim Set To Snap, Crackle And Pop!

15 July 2013:Aim CoreProtect, a division of Stockport-based Aim Group, one of the North of England's largest providers ofmotor, household, lifestyle and commercial cover and associated insurance services, has appointed Stalybridge man Kevin Rice to boost the business's growth on the back of its recently re-launched product range.

Officially starting his new role from 8 July, Rice, aged 42, becomes Aim's dedicated business to business sales and development executive.He will face the dual challenge of handling existing clients' needs while enhancing the scope and volume of new relationships with brokers, intermediaries and suppliers.

A Cert CII qualified practitioner, Rice is an experienced salesman and new business go-getter with a varied career in insurance behind him. He enjoyed more than a decade with the RSA Insurance Group where he worked as a professional indemnity underwriter before moving on to work on fraud investigations as a senior adviser. After a stint as an analyst in the claims support project management team he spent his last few years at RSA as a senior technical claims handler.

He also enjoyed a spell with Sydney Packett Insurance Brokers, a family run Yorkshire business where, working on behalf of training organisations on their Trainsure Scheme, he looked after third party relationships, the scheme's premier clients and became the primary technical adviser for the rest of team. And as operations and commercial business development manager for Heath Lambert Insurance Services Ltd he oversaw Chandler Direct, the dedicated motorcycle insurance schemes business.

Working for Bollington Insurance Brokers, one of the largest niche brokers in the country, specialising in delegated authority motor trade related schemes, he was able to use his previous experience to develop a dedicated motorcycle strategy, as well as integrating the Carol Nash commercial business into the Bollington Group.

Most recently, proving his adaptability, he worked as the business development and sales manager for Retail Leisure (UK Ltd), where he was immersed in the ultra-competitive world of confectionery sales.

There, among other things, he was responsible for the development and management of multiple e-commerce platforms.

_{Rice says: "I'm delighted to be working for Aim, one of the more progressive industry voices. This sector is going through a raft of changes and there is a greater need than ever to bring clarity and confidence to customers. I will need to stay ahead of emerging trends and competitors if I am to win over businesses. It's a competitive marketplace but I like to win and I'll be giving it everything I've got!"}

Rebranded two years ago, re-organised to be more customer focused and buoyed by a growing customer base benefitting from the firm's innovative delivery platform and enhanced and continually evolving portfolio of products, Aim CoreProtect's transformation is almost complete.

Ian Meachin, Aim's sales manager and the man responsible for recruiting Rice comments: "Kevin's appointment is yet another piece of the jigsaw we've been able to put in place. When I joined the business two years ago, given the strategic overhaul that was required and the state of the market we were competing in, nobody was even sure what the picture was or how many pieces of the puzzle were missing. Now, we've got a very clear picture of what we are aiming for, we're continuing to strengthen the team, we're selling more policies than at any point for the last few years and feedback from our customers tells us they like what they see."

"Kevin is a great addition to the team. His career to date has been defined by achievement after achievement. He is smart, keen, resourceful and extremely personable which makes him an ideal fit for us and our business partners."

Originally from the London Borough of Sutton, Rice, who is married and has a daughter aged nine, made the move north in the nineties and has been living in Stalybridge since 2008. In his spare time he likes nothing more than hiking around the Pennines or rustling up a barbeque for friends and family - weather permitting. He's also a dab hand at cooking Indian food: that is when he's not performing his duties as an unpaid taxi-driver for his little girl!

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For more information, interview requests or digital photography, please contact:

Neil Bent T: 01457 869 477 M: 07957 143 450 E: neil@ablecommunications.co.uk

Notes to Editors:

_{Established in 1999 and based in Stockport, Aim Group employs around 25 people, and provides policies to customers through independent brokers and intermediaries nationwide.}

_{As well as providing motor, household and lifestyle products, legal expenses insurance policies and commercial cover, Aim acts as a claims management company for its customers, referring cases to a nationwide panel of solicitors and credit hire companies. In addition to helping people cope more easily with the aftermath of often-traumatic incidents, Aim has successfully helped customers recover uninsured losses running into millions of pounds.}

_{Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority and regulated by the Ministry of Justice where its regulated claims management activities are concerned, Aim Group is headquartered at Broadstone Mill, Broadstone Road, Reddish, Stockport, SK5 7DL.}http://www.aim-coreprotect.co.uk