Attendees at InSite: Building Safety and Standards will hear speakers, such as Paul Cullum, debate and discuss the Building Safety Act, the 2025 Future Homes Standard as well as the industry codes of practice
Premier Guarantee, spoke to to Director of Specialist Risks at HSB, Paul Cullum, who explored his experiences and plans for InSite.
Where did it start for you in the industry?
I was studying electrical engineering at Plymouth when I saw an advert in a local paper for a Trainee Sales Inspector for an engineering insurance company called National Vulcan (part of Sun Alliance).
The lure of a salary was too much to resist, and I worked my way up from there. NV was the largest engineering insurer in the UK at the time and a great place to learn your trade.
How about the road to where you are today. What was your experiences, biggest challenges or proudest moments?
I have been lucky enough to work in a number of offices around the UK and deal with some diverse market segments. I have dealt with agricultural risks, construction, commercial property investors, media risks, renewables and even cyber.
I have had various roles in sales, marketing, underwriting and product development. Despite 35 years in engineering insurance, it has never been dull. My proudest moment was receiving the British Insurance Award for Innovation at the Royal Albert Hall for our Energy Efficiency Insurance product.
You are the Director of Specialist Risks at HSB. What makes HSB so important to its customers and the wider industry?
Technical expertise. HSB is the only company in the UK solely focused on engineering and technology insurance and risk management solutions. I think we are at our best when we use our knowledge and expertise to create cutting-edge solutions to make our customers’ emerging risks insurable.
What is it about your job that keeps you going, whether it is the challenges, inspirations or the people around you?
It is definitely the sheer variety. One day we can be working on EV charging infrastructure, the next, it could be identity recovery solutions for consumers. The fast rate of technological change means there is always something new that needs to be looked at.
What is your presentation topic for the InSite event in September, and what can attendees look forward to?
Sustainability and energy efficiency is a hot topic. HSB has been ensuring the performance of building retrofit projects since 2014. There is increasing interest in performance guarantees not just for upgraded, existing building stock but also for new builds.
That will be at the centre of our discussion. However, as well as my thoughts, I will be very interested to hear what those attending see as their future challenges in this area.
What advice would you have for those considering attending our InSite event, bearing in mind the landscape of the industry at the moment and the need for obtaining knowledge and sharing ideas?
ESG pressures and the evolution of the Energy Act will see pressure on developers and property owners to grow enormously over the next few years. The same is true of resources to tackle it. Leaving things for tomorrow is likely to be very costly. So come along and start talking about what we can do now.
You can find tickets for the event featuring Paul Cullum here.
