The founder of accident claims specialist Winn Group is stepping down from his chief executive role after 20 years at the helm.
Jeff Winn has moved into an executive chairman role, with Chris Birkett becoming Winn Group chief executive officer.
Mr Winn founded the Newcastle company in 2002 after becoming frustrated dealing with insurers after a car crash. He has grown the group to a multi-brand accident management firm under the umbrella of Winn Group, and it is set to hit £100m turnover for the first time in the 2023 financial year.
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He is moving to a less hands-on role, completing a two-year succession period, with Mr Birkett, who joined 16 years ago, leading the business on a day-to-day basis after previously acting as chief operating officer.
He said: “Chris Birkett is ready for the CEO role, and it was the right time for him to move into that role. He has an immense amount of knowledge, having worked in the industry for over 25 years and understands Winns inside out.
“He understands the Winns vision to be best in class and to provide excellent customer service, treating all suppliers well.
“Movement to executive chairman allows me to concentrate my efforts on strategy and planning, a role I relish and enjoy. In practice, it is a role I have had for the last 12 months or so; this formally recognises it and makes the change complete.”
Mr Birkett began his new role on April 1 and is set to steer the company as it builds on huge growth and new service offerings, including commercial litigation and the launch of a wills, probate and trusts department.
He said: “I am delighted to assume the role of Winn Group CEO, having undertaken a two-year period of planning toward this move.
“The change in role isn’t dramatic, this is more evolution than revolution. There’s no change in plans as we’ve been working on the management structure for the last two years plus.
“We’re at a place now where I’ve got the strongest management team that we’ve ever had and that is proven by the numbers we are delivering. Being the first financial year, almost, coming out of Covid, to be able to hit a target of £100m turnover is unbelievable. The EBITDA figure will be in excess of £16m, which is a fabulous percentage of that turnover figure.
“What we have to do as a business moving forward for the financial year 2023 is to be better than that. That £100m turnover, if we can get anywhere near £110m, a 10% increase on that, would be a great year for me.”
