With a wealth of experience gained from a variety of commercial and private sectors, such as software, finance, insurance, banking and technology, the Open GI leadership team is led by Group Chief Executive Officer, Simon Badley.
Simon’s team and the wider Open GI Group is committed to expanding and deepening its technology to fully support all MGAs, Brokers and Insurers throughout the UK and Irish General Insurance market.
Meet Open GI’s leadership team
With a wealth of experience gained from a variety of commercial and private sectors, such as software, finance, insurance, banking and technology, the Open GI leadership team is led by Group Chief Executive Officer, Simon Badley. Simon’s team and the wider Open GI Group is committed to expanding and deepening its technology to fully support all MGAs, Brokers and Insurers throughout the UK and Irish General Insurance market.
Please tap the boxes for more information.
Simon Badley
Chief Executive OfficerSimon
Simon joined Open GI in July 2019 and has overall responsibility for setting the business strategy and liaising with our investors. Simon, who has over 30 years’ experience in the financial services and software industries, joins us from Iress where he was UK CEO and previously CEO of private equity backed Avelo. Prior to this, Simon held a number of senior leadership roles across Sales, Marketing and Operations with Aviva.
Helen Barker
Director of PMOHelen
Helen oversees the Programme Management Office of the business, which looks after a number of key initiatives to drive the company forward. Having worked for the company for over 15 years, Helen has held a number of roles including customer operations, managing insurer relationships and product deployment.
Giles Baxter
Chief Information OfficerGiles
Giles joined Open GI in June 2020 and brings with him a wealth of strong software and insurance experience. Recently, he held the role as Group CIO at RM plc. Prior, Baxter held executive level roles at both Arthur J Gallagher and RSA, and spent two years building and delivering software for Acturis.
Simon Hughes
Chief Operating OfficerSimon
Simon joined the business in 2003 and is ultimately responsible for software development and delivery, customer services and technical operations.
Bernie Pelster
Chief People OfficerBernie
Bernie is responsible for the strategic direction of Open GI’s talent, employee engagement and internal communications agendas. Bernie’s HR career spans 20 years across public and private organisations, focusing mainly on employee relations, HR technology and mergers and acquisitions.
Charlie Ralph
Chief Financial OfficerCharlie
Charlie joined Open GI in late 2016 and is responsible for the businesses’ strategic financial direction. Charlie brings a wealth of financial and commercial experience assembled during a decade in M&A in the City, then subsequently, a dozen years as Chief Financial Officer of Hamptons, Alliance Medical and Hospedia.
Paul Thornton
Chief Commercial OfficerPaul
Paul joined Open GI in mid-May 2020. Paul brings with him more than 20 years of IT, technology and customer success leadership experience. Most recently he served as Executive General Manager at IRESS UK. Prior to that, Thornton held senior sales appointments at global IT firms such as Avelo, Harvey Nash, iPipeline and CGI.