Simon’s Journey Through Mathematics and the Insurance Industry

From a young age, Simon has always loved maths and been interested in its many applications. He chose the BSc (Hons) Mathematics course because it offered a good mix of pure and applied mathematics and gave him broad knowledge of how maths can be used in different industries.

Since graduating in 2015, Simon has built a successful career in the General Insurance sector, working within the pricing teams across companies including Co-op, Atlanta, Direct Line, and Covéa. 

Simon is currently the Head of Retail Pricing at 1st Central, where he plays a key role in ensuring the company offers fair and competitive prices to the UK motor insurance market. His responsibilities include maintaining competitive and profitable pricing models, overseeing customer behaviour analysis, ensuring governance and fairness, and managing the analysis of data. He also leads a team of around 20 people, guiding them on projects largely centred around statistical modelling, and supporting their professional development.

Reflecting on what led him to his current role, Simon credits his fascination with the predictive power of mathematics - specifically, how behaviour and events can be better understood through a combination of simple and advanced models.

Looking back on his experience at the University, Simon said: “The people I met and the time spent in and around Preston were my favourite times. It was my first time living away from Northern Ireland and I really felt at home at the University.”

For students considering a degree in mathematics, Simon offers this advice: “Maths opens so many doors in terms of career options. Even if you’re not sure what you want to do after graduating, the varied topics of the course can offer a great insight in to the many things you can move on to with maths. Data is becoming bigger than ever and most employers offer training to apply your maths knowledge to data science. If you’ve got a passion for statistics and communicating difficult mathematical concepts then you could maybe even consider a career in insurance. Nine out of ten drivers think they’re better than the average driver, so we’ll always have work to do!”