London, England, March 01, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- London (March 1, 2018) – Insurance broker Integro/Robertson Taylor sadly confirms the death of Robertson Taylor co-founder Ian France on February 20.
This quiet, private man was a respected friend and colleague, and a gentleman to the last.
Bob Taylor met Ian when he was working as a claims broker at Alexander Howden in 1968. Bob interviewed him as a possible candidate to join Lloyd’s Broker Eckersley Hicks, where Willie Robertson and Bob were junior directors at the time. As always, Ian was impeccably dressed, and they got on immediately and ended up in a pub to seal the deal.
History will show that when the three of them broke away to form Robertson Taylor, Ian was right there on May 1, 1977, when he and Bob shared a plank of wood across two cabinets as a desk. Robertson Taylor was and always has been renowned for arranging insurances for the music business, and Ian’s part in this was to find markets and create products to that end. In hindsight, the company name should have been Robertson Taylor France, as Ian became, and remained, critical to our business. We did recognise this later when we became a Lloyd’s Broker and our broker code was RTF for the years to come.
We never looked back from 1977 in the new and rapidly expanding world of music insurance. Names like T Rex, Pink Floyd, The Who, The Kinks, Elton John and The Rolling Stones quickly became daily discussions for us and this is where Ian showed his great talent. The music industry was at that time “taboo” with insurers who believed in the old adage of Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll and was not an industry they wanted to insure. They preferred the safety of bricks and mortar to insuring the antics of musicians on and off stage.
Ian and his team were in the market daily and gradually were able to convince insurers that the music industry as a whole could have a future in the insurance market. Over the years Ian drafted and developed many of the non-appearance insurance wordings that we continue to use today. Indeed, just 10 days ago he was in the market working on a project. Ian was the principal broker on many of the industry’s largest contingency market placings. He will be greatly missed by his colleagues at his legacy firm, Robertson Taylor, parent company Integro Insurance Brokers, and in the insurance market in general, which he helped influence.
Our condolences to his wife Avis, daughters Caroline and Louise, and grandchildren Jack and Lila.
In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations to aid in the research of mesothelioma. Cheques should be made payable to “Queen Mary University of London", reference "MON9060B” and mailed to:
Dr. P Szlosarek MD PhD, Principal Investigator
Centre for Molecular Oncology, Barts Cancer Institute
Queen Mary, University of London
Charterhouse Square, London EC1M 6BQ
Please note: "MON9060B" is Dr. Szlosarek’s laboratory account at Queen Mary, which ensures the monies will be spent on mesothelioma research.
Signed,
Bob Taylor and John Silcock
About Integro
Integro is an international insurance brokerage and risk management firm. Launched in 2005, Integro operates from offices in the United States, Bermuda, and the United Kingdom. Its U.S. headquarter office is located at 1 State Street Plaza, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10004. 1-877-688-8701. www.integrogroup.com
Firmly established in the heart of London’s financial district, Integro Insurance Brokers Ltd trades as a Lloyd’s accredited broker and is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Its office is located at 71 Fenchurch Street, 2nd Floor, London, EC3M 4BS. +44 (0)20 3915 0000. www.integrogroup.com/uk/
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