Gateley Plc makes key appointment to surety team

We have hired Richard White who joins Gateley as a solicitor and consultant. Richard was previously with Zurich Insurance Group, where he was global underwriting manager for Credit, Surety and Political Risk.

Richard has over 40 years’ experience of surety, trade credit and credit lines business as a solicitor, and as an underwriter and manager of surety and credit businesses. He was a member of Zurich’s senior management team for its UK business from 1998 until 2011, and from 2011 until his retirement from Zurich in June this year, Richard was the global manager of the company’s technical underwriting function for its Credit, Surety and Political Risk team, as well as other credit related specialist products.

Richard has been involved in many major projects, corporate transactions, reconstructions and leading surety cases in the UK and internationally. He also drafted the ABI Model Form of Guarantee Bond and explanatory guide.

Karen Spencer, Construction partner and member of the Gateley surety team, commented: “Richard brings with him a wealth of experience in surety and credit lines, with vast knowledge of his discipline. I’m confident that he will have a big impact on the future direction of our department and will be a great asset to our team. I’m delighted to welcome him to Gateley Plc.”

Richard added: “The Gateley Plc team is made up of internationally recognised surety experts in bonds, guarantees and recourse structures including indemnity agreements as well as a range of other credit related areas so I’m looking forward to getting started and working with colleagues across the construction, banking & finance, insolvency and pensions teams.”

The Gateley surety team has over 30 years’ experience of this specialist practice area and advise on both contentious and non-contentious issues relevant to any surety. The team regularly act for many big names, including Chubb, Aviva, Euler Hermes, Tokio Marine HCC, QBE and Zurich.