James Esdaile
Chairman
Chairman
James Esdaile has worked at BPL Global for 25 years, building a wealth of experience in numerous industry sectors. He was appointed to the UK company’s board in 2004, and to the Group Board in 2006. He was made Chairman in September 2022.
As Chairman, James works alongside Sian Aspinall to set the company’s strategic course and ensure the highest levels of service for clients across the entire insurance placing process.
Having joined BPL Global in 1997, James was appointed as Managing Director in 2015, charged with consolidating the broker’s position as the leading independent specialist in the CPRI market – by maintaining its reputation for high technical standards, overseeing its geographic and product growth, and developing its corporate structure. He took over from Charles Berry as Chairman in 2022.
James has over 25 years’ experience working across the breadth of BPL Global’s client base. He began his CPRI career focusing on the company’s French corporate business, providing contract frustration insurance covering exporters’ short-to-medium term business.
In 2004, James took over his own team of brokers, expanding it to number 12 people. His role included dealing with some of the world’s largest commodity trading clients, servicing their high volume-time critical business needs and ensuring that they remained ahead in a fiercely competitive marketplace. He also took on responsibility for a number of BPL Global’s major international banking clients, working to increase understanding within the banking industry as to the benefits of the CPRI product in terms of qualifying for regulatory capital relief.
James has significant experience in claims handling, successfully collecting over US$400 million of claims on behalf of clients post-financial crisis. He is a regular speaker at industry events, and studied International Relations at the University of Westminster.