Steve Smout joins ahead of the formal launch of McLarens Agriculture
April 10, 2019 (Norcross, GA) McLarens, the global loss adjuster specialising in complex, commercial and niche markets, has announced its plans to launch McLarens Agriculture, a division offering specialist loss adjusting expertise to the agricultural and related markets. To spearhead the offering, which will formally launch this quarter, McLarens has recruited Steve Smout ACII, FCILA, BSc (Hons) Agriculture, a chartered loss adjuster with 30 years’ experience and a specialist background in agricultural risks.
An ardent and experienced agriculturalist, with a mid-Wales family-farming heritage and a degree in Agriculture from Reading University, Steve began his career working on a large arable dairy farm, before moving into the supply and technical side of the industry. He made his move into agricultural loss adjusting in 1990 and quickly became a director within the Agri-Business team at McLarens Capita. Steve has held senior positions, at both regional and national levels, with a number of major adjusting firms and he regularly handles high-value and complex losses. As Head of Agriculture at McLarens, Steve will oversee a team of adjusters working across UK and Ireland, on the full spectrum of agricultural losses including property, casualty, revenue, equine and livestock.
Following the acquisition of specialist rural adjuster Agrical in 2013, McLarens has continued to consolidate its presence in the commercial farming and rural estates markets. The formation of McLarens Agriculture will allow the business to refocus on this sector and at the same time align strategically with the wider UK operation. One of Mr. Smout’s first priorities will be to complete the integration of the existing Agrical operation within the newly formed Agriculture practice, which will sit alongside McLarens Private Clients, launched last year to service the High Net Worth and Estates sectors.
Steven Wallace, UK Managing Director, McLarens commented: “As our UK & Ireland business has evolved, we have built out a number of technical practices that are fully integrated within our business and deliver to niche markets the culture, service quality and technical expertise that McLarens is known for. The renewed focus and expansion of our agriculture capabilities within our family of McLarens specialist practices is a natural development designed to enhance our agricultural proposition to existing and prospective clients in this important market. I am thrilled that Steve joins us to lead the practice and I look forward to working with him and our clients in this space.”
David Gillan, Executive Director, McLarens added: “Steve has a great reputation in the market and brings a high level of expertise across farming and agriculture. We’ve already received a high level of support and interest from insurers and brokers in seeing how we can build our agricultural practice with Steve at the helm.”
Steve Smout, Head of Agriculture added: “The business of agriculture is increasingly multi-faceted and continues to evolve well beyond farming, from farm shops and events to food production and distribution. Agri-clients require both a broad commercial loss adjusting skill set and considerable knowledge and insight about the markets in which they operate. McLarens already has a wealth of agricultural expertise, as well as experience and resources in tangential markets that may prove valuable to clients. I’ll be looking to build upon this existing capability, to ensure we’re offering genuine agricultural expertise across the board. I’m delighted to be taking on the role!”
McLarens Brings In Agri-industry Heavyweight to Spearhead New Agriculture Division
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