Description

Changing Perspectives: Simon Hayes

When markets softened and box-ticking took over, Simon Hayes didn’t chase “cheapest.” He doubled down on stories that change perceptions.

From Royal Marines officer training to aviation broking at Lloyd’s, Simon learned early that insurance is a people business. The real leverage wasn’t a rate card, it was narrative: helping underwriters see the full picture, turning “distressed risk” into understood risk, and partnering beyond price.

Years later, a brutal redundancy could have closed the book. Instead, Simon started again, founding NextGen Communications, becoming a go-to voice for insurers and InsurTechs who needed more than press releases. He rode the early InsurTech wave, sat with founders who had product but no profile, and built campaigns that earned attention where it counts: with buyers.

This conversation is about resilience, relationship capital, and pride; about telling the truth well enough that the industry can stand up at a dinner party and say, “We oil the wheels of the world,” without apology.

Simon reminds us that PR, at its best, is not spin, it’s stewardship of trust. Claims are acts of restoration. Brand is the promise you keep when no one is watching. And the most durable growth still comes from helping first.

Whether you build products, place risk, or lead teams through change, this episode is a quiet masterclass in finding your value, showing your work, and staying human when the spreadsheet says otherwise.

What we cover

• Royal Marines to Lloyd’s: the people skills that outlast process
• Aviation broking and the “soft market” epiphany: stop selling cheapest, start selling partnership
• Storytelling that moves markets: closing the gap between Zimbabwe Airways and its peers by changing perception with facts
• PR as perception change (not vanity metrics): where outcomes actually matter
• Diversity then and now: why the market feels different, and what’s still missing
• Redundancy, reinvention, and the power of your network when the ground shifts
• InsurTech accelerators, funding waves, and how NextGen became a go-to in the niche
• Practical comms for insurers & InsurTechs: what to invest in when budgets are tight
• Pride at the dinner party: making the case for being in insurance
• Life beyond the inbox: small global teams, travel, golf dreams, and building a business you actually like

Humanizing Insurance is bought to you by Daniel Grimwood-Bird. It's a passion project, driven by the evergreen phrase 'Insurance is a people industry'.

Through each conversation, we explore the stories, experiences, and ideas that make our world of insurance more human - from the pioneers and innovators shaping its future to the quiet leaders who hold its traditions together.

This podcast exists to remind us that behind every policy, premium, and claim is a person, someone m

Humanizing Insurance is bought to you by Daniel Grimwood-Bird. It's a passion project, driven by the evergreen phrase 'Insurance is a people industry'.

Through each conversation, we explore the stories, experiences, and ideas that make our world of insurance more human - from the pioneers and innovators shaping its future to the quiet leaders who hold its traditions together.

This podcast exists to remind us that behind every policy, premium, and claim is a person, someone making decisions, taking risks, and protecting what matters most.

If these stories resonate with you, please follow the show, leave a review, and share it with a colleague or friend who still believes in the people side of this business.

You can also connect with Daniel on LinkedIn to continue the conversation, recommend guests, or request a topic that you'd like to know more about.

Humanizing Insurance — one conversation at a time.