Core teams

Matt Field is the Chief Marketing Officer for Aventum Group. Matt assists all group businesses with their growth strategies and leads the sales team to build strong relationships with brokers across the UK.

He joined the group in August 2016 to establish a northern office. He has spent 10 years working in sales and marketing roles within the insurance industry, starting at a legal expenses and add-on product intermediary.

If he wasn’t working for Aventum, Matt would probably be travelling Europe watching Liverpool Football Club win more European Cups.

April Faint is the Brand & Marketing Director at Aventum Group.

April joined the group in November 2019 and has worked in marketing within the insurance industry for more than eight years, directing design and marketing for a wide range of brands globally across the insurance sector.

Lee Dumford is managing director at Securus Risk Advisors. His main responsibilities include the day to day running of the company and surveying activities globally, including across Europe, the UK, US, and Australia.

Lee created Securus Risk Advisors in August 2020, having previously been a senior insurance surveyor at SECON. Formerly a fire fighter, Lee is an experienced fire risk consultant, and studied through the Institute of Fire Engineers to attain his knowledge of risk management and fire science.

Outside of work, Lee enjoys playing golf, watching rugby, and spending time with family and friends. He is also a keen road cyclist and gym attendee.

Sam Hayman is a Security Analyst at Aventum Group.

Sam joined the group in 2020 as part of the IT support team, having recently graduated from university studying cyber security.

Sam has always had a passion for IT systems, but outside of work he enjoys playing games, going to the gym and seeing live bands

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As Group Head of Strategic Operations, Natasha Aylen has worked at Aventum Group for almost a decade. Previously, Tash worked at Ford Motor Company as a Logistics Coordinator and in Dealer Systems Support. 

Searching for a simple part time role after having her son, Tash did not intend on planning out a career. However, before she knew it, she had built up a great knowledge base and progressed within the Group into the role she holds today. 

Outside of work, Tash enjoys swimming, football and boxing. She also has two Jack Russells - Rosie and Ruby.

As Group Head of Operational Excellence, Mark Fry brings over 32 years of insurance experience to the business. In the last 10 years, Mark has worked for Millers, Canopius, Marsh and UIB as a London Market Principal Consultant.

Re-engineering hundreds of operational processes to improve quality and service delivery over the years, Mark’s Insurance and Operations background combined with Aventum’s appetite for innovation, provides ideal foundations to become a market leading business in both Broker and MGA spaces.

Away from work, Mark is a husband and father of two, a church member and an advocate of fitness and mental health.

Alex Curme is the Group Finance Director at Aventum, responsible for working on projects within the finance function that will help support the group as it continues to grow.

He joined the Group in February 2022, having previously spent five years as an auditor at Deloitte, specialising in all types of insurance companies, followed by three years at MGA Ensurance, where he was head of finance.

Outside of work, Alex plays a lot of football. He also recently became a father for the first time, which takes up a lot of spare hours!

Paul Lever is Head of Commercial Finance & FP&A at Aventum Group. Paul is responsible for helping the board and business units with forecasting, planning and performance monitoring.

He joined the group in December 2020, joining from Tysers Insurance Brokers where he spent four years building out the FP&A function. He also has operational and strategic advisory experience within financial services after five years as a consultant in the performance consulting team at Aon. Paul is a Chartered Accountant trained at Ernst & Young London.

Outside of work, Paul has travelled extensively in Asia and Latin America; and spent two years in Osaka, Japan, as a language tutor.

Canan Oral is the director of financial operations at Aventum Group.

She joined Aventum in 2005 when it was a small retail broker as an accounts administrator and was appointed finance director in 2007 after a successful couple of years of growth within the company.

Over the years Canan has developed and built a successful IBA team, which now control £500m of GWP. Acting as client money manager, she has ensured operational compliance with CASS and client money, reporting to the board. She has ownership of all insurance ledger controls including bank recs and segregation of duties.

Charlette Newland is the Deputy Head of IBA for Consilium, Aura, and Rokstone. Her responsibilities are to oversee her hard-working team and ensure the smooth running of the department.

Charlette joined the group in 2014 where she started in the accounts department with just two staff members and has watched the company go from strength to strength, now supporting a department of over 10 members.

Outside of work, Charlette enjoys making the most of her home life with her two children, from exploring quiet nature parks to the adrenaline rush of different theme parks.

Neil Milner is the chief people officer at Aventum Group.

Neil has over 24 years’ experience in the London insurance market, and first joined Aventum in December 2006 as a broking and development manager. His first responsibility was to act as broker for the first London market lineslip the group placed. He has held various roles with the company since then including commercial director, managing director of Consilium’s UK business, and group operations director.

In March 2020 Neil was appointed chief people officer and is currently tasked with developing a first class human resource team to ensure we attract, retain and develop top talent, while also ensuring we have state of the art office and remote working facilities in place.

Jonathan Sparham is a Group Head of HR Functions at Aventum Group.

Jonathan joined the group in March 2021, having previously spent eight years in the insurance sector working for Arthur J Gallagher, Tokio Marine HCC and Novae Group in a variety of HR roles with an operations bias. Before insurance, he worked for American Express, Unilever and Procter and Gamble in a variety of roles.

Outside of work, apart from spending time with his 11-year-old daughter, Jonathan’s passion is competing in dog agility. He also enjoys watching rugby and trying to play tennis.

Demi provides support to employees, covering the entire employee life cycle, including on-boarding, employee relations, HR administration, compensation and benefits.

Demi brings six years of experience in a variety of HR functional areas. Prior to joining the group, Demi worked as a HR supervisor and PA in the travel industry.

Demi is recently finished studying her CIPD Intermediate Diploma in HR Management.

As Group Head of HR Operations, Kerry Hurst has worked in insurance for over a decade. Before insurance, Kerry trained as a teacher and spent five years working in schools. 

Coming back to Insurance as an IBA Accounts Manager at Aventum before her current position, most of Kerry’s insurance experience is within credit control, while she also has experience as a Reinsurance Technician. 

Away from work, Kerry loves to knit and crochet. She has two children and enjoys family life with them, her husband and their dog, Axolotls.

Ali Foroshani is the talent acquisition manager at Aventum Group, responsible for attracting and recruiting for all vacancies in the group.

Ali joined the group in April 2021 having previously spent three years in a similar role at Lockton Companies LLP. He has spent most of his career recruiting for agencies specialising in insurance.

Outside of work Ali mainly spends time with family and friends. He tries to get out on his bike as much as possible and has recently started taking his son to mini rugby.

Karen joined Aventum as Human Resources Manager, responsible for the day-to-day management and support of the core HR and Learning and Development function within the wider HR team. Within 8 months Karen was promoted to Group Head of People Partners, responsible for determining and leading the direction of the HR People team and overall People Strategy.  Ensuring that the corporate values and mission are at the forefront of supporting the changing needs of the business and its employees.

Before joining the Aventum family, Karen worked at Ascot Underwriting as HR Talent and Culture Manager after spending five years at MS Amlin as an HR Business Partner. Karen was drawn to Aventum’s appetite for innovation and how the business embraces change and diversity. 

Away from work, Karen loves to spend time with her family, bake with her stepdaughter, take long walks and raise money for charity. Karen has completed a wing walk, been skydiving and even abseiled for charitable causes. She is also fully qualified in British Sign Language.

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As Group Chief Technology Officer, Hasani Jess brings almost 25 years of experience to the business.

Previously, Hasani worked at Simply Business as a Chief Technology Officer and was Head of Delivery at TUI before that. Over the years, Hasani has designed, built and led technology and organisations in consulting, finance, telecommunications, travel, retail and insurance.

Away from work, Hasani is a proud husband and father of four. He is also a professional mentor, mentoring young men for over 13 years. Hasani is a recognised CIO100 Leader (2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022), in addition to being a Diversity Champion, winning the EveryWoman ‘Male Agent of Change’ award in 2021, a NED and a start-up advisor.

James Fairgrieve is the change delivery manager at Aventum, responsible for the end-to-end management of change programmes and projects, and ensuring they are delivered to a high quality.

He joined the group full-time in August 2021, having worked on freelance basis for Aventum since February 2021. Since 2006 he has been a contractor implementing IT systems and business change initiatives, specialising in the London insurance market from 2010

Outside of work, James has three kids, and loves to get out into nature, describing himself as a ‘bit of a tree-hugger’. He is also a qualified master scuba diver.

As Head of IT, Temi Onanuga brings over 22 years of experience across Risk and Technology domains with the last 14 years being in financial services. 

Before joining Aventum, she worked at Deutsche Bank as VP Group Technology Capability Lead and Head of Service Transformation. Temi has a breadth of experience gained within Financial Services, Government, Oil and Gas and Consulting and has worked in diverse roles in top tier financial institutions including Barclays Capital, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC and Deutsche Bank. Temi has extensive experience in leading strategic transformations, driving operational excellence, shaping teams and spearheading successful change initiatives across diverse business functions.

Outside of work, Temi enjoys playing golf and values time with family. A keen advocate for Lean Agile mindset, and professional Coach; she spends time coaching, mentoring, and championing STEM agenda.