Leadership team

David Bearman is the founder and CEO of Aventum Group, chairman of Rokstone Group, and CEO of Consilium.

David developed what is today Aventum Group as an 18-year-old in 1996. Since then he has forged a unique path forward, taking the business from a small commercial retail broker, to a global (re)insurance broking and underwriting business.

On this 28-year journey to date, David has been at the heart of both the London market broking and MGA scenes, founding successful brands in sectors of these markets where he sees opportunity.

Alongside his experience placing and underwriting reinsurance and insurance products, schemes and delegated authority arrangements, he has also established and developed many of these products. These include Property, Casualty, Motor Fleet, Plant & Equipment, Marine Cargo, Legal Expenses, Professional Indemnity, Latent Defects and Extended Warranty, which he has marketed across multiple trades and industries.

He has achieved and developed relationships with numerous global capacity providers, forming an extensive client network with a results-focused approach as a core business strategy.

Most of all though David is an entrepreneurial leader. He has built the Group from the ground up all without external investment, and is constantly seeking out new directions to expand the Group. He looks to bring in talent that shares his attitude to working, and finding new ways to break from traditional ways of providing insurance.

James Potter is the Chairman and co-owner of Rokstone and a board director of Aventum Group.

James has over 25 years' experience within the London and global insurance markets, successfully developing and maintaining a valued network centralised on long term strategic partnerships.

He has had responsibility for establishing various trading divisions, teams and MGAs within the broking and underwriting environment, from start-ups and the restructuring of existing teams, to servicing global placements for multinational firms with global capacity providers and client networks.

James has facilitated the placing and underwriting of reinsurance and/or insurance products, schemes, and delegated authority arrangements, including online trading platforms, covering a variety of classes of business including terrorism, property, energy and casualty contractors’ all risks.

John Eldridge is the Group Managing Director at Aventum Group.

John joined the group as Chief Commercial Officer in January 2020. He has over 15 years’ experience within financial services, previously holding MD roles in retail insurance broking, wholesale insurance broking and London market underwriting environments.

John has a track record of working alongside founders to drive strategy execution, corporate development and value creation.

He has worked with the board to establish group strategy and objectives, reconfigure corporate and management structure, and deliver enhanced MI and analytics, including the introduction of an actuarial function.  

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.

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.

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!

John Bearman is the chief investment officer at Aventum Group, responsible for managing all outbound investments, investing client money and implementing Fx strategies.

He joined the group in November 2021, having previously been a global macro trader/investor for the last 20 years.

Outside of work, John is a chauffer to his children and also chief mechanic (all thumbs) for his son and his go kart.

As Chief Commercial Officer, Paul Richards brings 33 years of industry experience to the Group. His specialist classes include Professional Risk, Directors’ and Officers' Liability, Cyber, Crime, Employment Practices Liability, Warranty and Indemnity, Tax Liability and Delegated risks. Paul’s sector experience lies in Financial Institutions, Professions, Asset Managers, Aircraft Leasing and Managing General Agents, covering locations globally.

Away from work, you will often find Paul taking his kids to rugby, dance classes and horse-riding - unless, that is, he is busy being in blockbusters, as Paul was once an extra in the movie ‘A Thin Red Line’ alongside George Clooney.

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.

Ian joined the Group in February 2020 as portfolio manager for property, power and energy Ian was then promoted to Managing Director, and two years later in Jan 2025, Ian was promoted to Global CEO.

He started his career in 2013 and spent the subsequent years at Alesco, working in onshore energy and power generation specialty lines. From there he developed a specialism in heavy industrial risks and managed a team of onshore energy brokers placing international energy accounts.

If Ian wasn’t working for Rokstone, he would probably be playing golf, having earned a golf scholarship to the University of Kansas

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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.