Richard Northcott
Although he’s now more or less retired from motorsport, Richard Northcott, Executive Director of the Facilities Group at Heath Lambert, is still a petrolhead at heart. “One event a year doesn’t really satisfy my need for speed,” he says. “I think that will always be there.”What do you do for a living?
I do a bit of everything. I’ve got 84 staff who I look after on a daily basis, and I also deal with high net worth clients all over the world, mainly in the fine art sector – my core speciality. I broker their risks to the underwriting markets in London and run and manage binding authorities and facilities. As well as the fine art and private client business, the team also looks after speciality business in kidnap and ransom, jewellery, specie and CIT, personal accident, bloodstock, entertainment and medical malpractice. I usually travel on business six to eight weeks a year and have been all over the globe – except Africa.
What about your job gets your motor running?
I enjoy dealing with people in all the areas I look after – whether clients, underwriters or staff – and analysing and solving their problems. I’m most often called upon to use my specialist knowledge to advise clients on what the best solution is for their needs.
When did you become involved in motorsports?
I’ve been into cars for as long as I can remember. I first got into motorsport when I was at school – I had a couple of uncles who used to take me to watch rallies, which usually involved getting up in the middle of the night, driving off to some forest and standing around by a rough gravel road in the cold, dark and wet. As soon as I had a licence, I went off and started doing the same thing myself! Early on, I competed mainly in karting, and then a bit of rallying at university. After university I competed on and off in different things – I’ve got a few trophies in my office.
Do you still get behind the wheel?
Time and family pressures don’t allow regular commitment so I’m pretty much retired now, but I was bullied into doing an event in mid-September: the Insurance Endurance, an eight-hour kart race. I used to have a lot of fast cars, but I’ve got too many children now! I still have two classic cars – Audi Quattros, one from 1982 and one from 1989. They’re famous because they were the first cars that brought 4WD into rallying. Sadly, the rest have had to go.
The CV
| 1989–1992 | Account Handler/Broker, Crowley Colosso |
| 1992–1995 | Account Handler/Broker, Lowndes Lambert |
| 1995–2000 | Associate Director, then Director, Specialities/Facilities Group, Lambert Fenchurch |
| 2000–2002 | Director, Facilities Group, Heath Lambert. Also on main board of Lloyd's Broker |
| 2003–present: | Executive Director, Facilities Group, Heath Lambert |