Allianz UK creates new sustainability leadership role

Authored by Allianz

Allianz has announced Bethany Thomas as the head of sustainability in a newly created role that centralises Allianz UK’s sustainability strategy.

The senior leadership position underscores the importance placed on sustainability across the entire business, with the role encompassing Allianz UK’s multi-brand portfolio including Petplan and LV=.

In this role Bethany will report to chief financial officer, Ulf Lange, and be responsible for developing and leading the implementation of the UK sustainability strategy across the business segments of commercial, personal, specialty, and central corporate functions.

Working closely with Allianz Group in Germany, and other Allianz entities in the UK, she will drive action to deliver on the company‘s net-zero targets, find opportunities to decarbonise operational emissions and support customers and brokers in their own net-zero transition. Another important aspect of the role will be building employee engagement and understanding of the topic of sustainability at an individual and business level.

Bethany joined Allianz in 2014 on the underwriting graduate scheme and subsequently held a number of roles within underwriting including head of multinational. She then joined Allianz Group as executive assistant to the global head of property and casualty, a role that included all aspects of sustainability for the P&C business. Most recently she rejoined Allianz UK to lead the CEO office team overseeing projects, governance, reporting and strategy.

Ulf Lange, chief financial officer, commented: “I’m very happy to announce Bethany as our new head of sustainability. She has extensive knowledge of our business and a global network to ensure that we are sharing and driving best practice. She will be able to utilise this technical knowledge alongside a genuine passion for the topic, to be a trusted business advisor while also bringing our employees along on the journey with us as an insurer and employer.

“Sustainability has always played an important part in our UK strategy, but the creation of this role signals our aligned approach across all parts of our UK business and maximises the opportunities we can create for ourselves, our brokers and our customers.”