The director of a Darwen-based business has been named one of the insurance industry’s ‘Women of Influence’, being one name on a big-hitting list of just 27 women nationwide, who are together ensuring the insurance sector has a brighter future.

Andrea Loasby, a director at property claims management and loss assessing business, Aspray Limited, joins 26 other top industry names in the list compiled by leading independent industry magazine Insurance Business.

The list includes the CEO of Lloyd’s of London, Inga Beale, but as the magazine says, it also features “women who are shaping the course of the insurance industry outside of the spotlight, including those who are mentoring the next generation of female insurance professionals.”

This definitely includes Andrea, who joined Aspray in June 2013 and has more than two decades of financial services expertise to utilise on behalf of other women wishing to pursue a career in her sector.

Described as “dynamic and business-savvy”, Andrea’s role in mentoring not just women in the loss assessing team at Aspray’s head office, but those taking up a business opportunity to be loss assessors in the field, via the Aspray franchise division, has not gone unnoticed.

The magazine notes how Andrea has been determined to not just succeed herself, but to enable others to follow her lead.  Her work in crafting an Aspray franchise business model that can allow women to realise their full potential and typically earn far more than they could in an employed role, has already seen women in locations as far apart as Oxford, Sunderland and Northern Ireland start and run their own loss assessing businesses with success.

To further allow entrepreneurial people to fulfil their business dreams, Andrea has also written a book about franchising, which is due for publication later this year.

Aspray’s managing director, James Whittle, says: “Making this ‘power list’ is an enormous achievement for Andrea and testimony to her dedication to not just her career, but the careers of others.  As the magazine says, the chosen Women of Influence are breaking down barriers to become some of the industry’s most influential leaders, who inspire their peers every day. 

“With Andrea’s dynamism behind our franchise model, it is little wonder that we are seeing high-achieving women come through the ranks of our franchisees and have highly motivated female employees here at head office, who are pursuing stretching career goals.”

The Women of Influence list was compiled to celebrate a changing era in the insurance industry, which has traditionally been male-dominated.  It highlights women who have broken into executive and leadership roles and proved what can be done with hard work and determination.

Andrea Loasby says: “I was hugely surprised by this recognition and flattered to be included in a list that features some of the biggest female names in insurance.  I am delighted that this may allow me to send out my message to more women who wish to work hard and potentially change their lives by running their own business in conjunction with Aspray.

“There are no barriers for those who give everything and it can be a hugely rewarding role to fill, fundamentally providing support, timely solutions and peace of mind to those who have potentially suffered property damage to their homes or commercial property, through incidents such as floods, fires, escapes of water and vehicle impacts”. 

“We find that women take to this role easily, often having the empathy, the drive and the organisational skills required to handle insurance negotiations on behalf of those who have suffered a property damage issue, at what can be traumatic moments in those insurance policyholders’ lives.  Hopefully, my inclusion on the Women of Influence list will enable me to shape the careers of more women who can appear on this list in years to come.”