Welcome to Northcourt, Nuclear Risk Specialists

Key People

Alan Rickett

Chief Executive Officer

Alan was appointed as CEO of Northcourt in December 2011 when the company was established with the aim of providing new insurance capacity to the nuclear insurance market and firmly position it in the international arena.

Over the last 12 years he has launched Property and Liability Binders and Northcourt is now a well-recognised and reputable company with a truly global footprint.

Prior to joining Northcourt, Alan worked for Marsh for over 30 years and was a leader of its nuclear practice in London. Throughout his career Alan specialised in the placement of complex nuclear insurance programmes for local and global nuclear companies. He provided advice and direction for its clients in relation to the Property, Liability and other nuclear related risks.

He joined Hogg Robinson in 1978 as a graduate trainee before moving to Sedgwick in 1981, and after 15 years, moved to the Isle of Man as Managing Director of the Company's Captive Management operation. Alan has established Nuclear Captive Insurance Companies in Guernsey, Isle of Man and South Carolina and served on the board of several substantial nuclear captives with responsibility of over $500m of capacity.

He was educated at Nottingham University. He is a fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute and a fellow of the Institute of Risk Management.

Zemfira Knott

Director

Zemfira Knott has over sixteen years management experience including many years in the nuclear insurance industry. Reporting directly to the CEO and the Board of Directors she manages the day-to-day operations of the business which includes responsibility for compliance, marketing and audits. Zemfira also oversees the production of insurance documentation as well as working closely with the Company’s insurance panel and its broker network.

Previously Zemfira worked as a Business Manager for Northcourt’s parent company operating in London and Washington DC. She was directly involved in a number of high-profile projects in the nuclear and energy sector providing strategic and advisory services to the top management of several large multinational companies. In order to assist clients on geo-political issues, Zemfira worked closely with N10 Downing Street, Members of Parliament and UK Embassies globally.

Prior to that Zemfira held a senior management position with 50 direct reports. She was responsible for developing and implementing operational strategies for increased profitability and improved customer service. As part of her many achievements she successfully turned around several struggling operations.

Zemfira graduated from the Business School, Sociology and Economy Department of Daugavpils Institute where she also studied Business Psychology. Zemfira is an associate member of WiN Global (Women in Nuclear), member of Chartered Insurance Institute and a member of the Financial Times Non-Executive Directors' Club.

Adrian Nunn

Director

Adrian joined the underwriting team of Northcourt in May 2017 after over 35 years working on the broking side of the insurance industry the last 13 of which focused primarily on nuclear insurance. His knowledge of and contacts in that field qualify him to work alongside the members of the insurance panel of Northcourt and the brokers involved in the placement of the binders.

After starting his career with Sedgwick in 1981, Adrian joined Alexander Howden in 1994 where he was responsible for a team dealing with all processing aspects of the more complicated placements across the combined Marine, Energy, Power and Construction Business Units.

He transferred to the Aon Power Business Unit in 2004 at which time he became involved with nuclear insurance as a key member of the team handling the reinsurance programme for European nuclear mutual EMANI.

At time of leaving Aon, Adrian was Global Account Director for EMANI, working with colleagues in London and Brussels on all stages of the process from programme design through placement of the reinsurances to production and issuance of documentation.

He was also responsible for co-ordinating all technical and servicing aspects of a portfolio of other nuclear accounts and was a member of the Aon Core Global Nuclear Team.

Alongside his account responsibilities, Adrian also undertook quality control and audit checks across the Power Business Unit within Aon to ensure compliance with both internal and external regulatory requirements. He also acted as authorised signatory for documentation issued to clients and insurers.

He will continue to perform these tasks at Northcourt alongside his primary role.

David Mincher

Surveyor / Underwriting Committee

David Mincher has been involved in nuclear engineering for over 30 years, initially with the Royal Navy and then with the civil nuclear generating industry.

David’s naval career started with an artificer apprenticeship and culminated in the role of Marine Engineering Officer (Senior Engineer and Head of Department) of one of the UK’s Trident ballistic missile submarines. Over the course of a 24-year career he held engineering appointments in surface ships and submarines as well as an extensive period in a training and assessment role.

On leaving the Royal Navy David joined the UK’s civil nuclear industry firstly in the role of Internal Regulator at Dungeness B (AGR) before moving to an operational role at Sizewell B (PWR). He completed Reactor Operator training before advancing to the Control Room Supervisor position and ultimately to the senior operational role of Shift Manager, a position he held for 7 years.

Operationally focussed, David has undertaken risk-based analysis in both his careers and has relevant practical experience in risk management and mitigation. David is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

Ed Butler CBE DSO

Senior Advisor

Ed has nearly 40 years of experience leading and delivering high value outcomes in extremely challenging environments, both commercially and in the military. Since 2016, he has been a Senior Independent Advisor to the licensee Board of EDF Energy Generation, the operating company for UK’s nuclear industry, advising the management team on nuclear safety, security and strategy matters. He is also a senior advisor and co-builder with Gallos Technologies which invests in security technology companies.

Ed has comprehensive experience of managing and dealing with all types of intelligence, political and malicious risk, confrontation analysis, complex project management, business development and resource allocation. He has been part of the leadership team that built two successful consultancy businesses and spent 7 years as Chief Resilience Officer at Pool Re, the Government backed terrorism reinsurance scheme. He was privileged to command 22 SAS over 9/11 and led British forces in Afghanistan in 2006. Ed has been formally recognised by Her Majesty's Government on six occasions for his service to the nation.

Mark Tetley

Senior Consultant

Mark has extensive underwriting and broking experience, and has developed nuclear programmes for Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Bulgaria and China. Mark is also recognised as a leading expert in the nuclear insurance field.

During his career, Mark has served as managing director of the UK’s nuclear insurance pool, Nuclear Risk Insurers Ltd, assisting the government with changes to the statutory nuclear liability legislation required by amendments to the 2004 Paris Convention. Mark has also been an expert representative of the international nuclear insurance industry at the Nuclear Law Committee of OECD’s Nuclear Energy Agency in Paris and is a lecturer at the International School of Nuclear Law. Recently, Mark engaged by the European Commission to lead a study on the insurance, private and financial markets in the field of nuclear third-party liability.

Nick Woodward

Claims Director

Nick is an ACII-qualified (re)insurance lawyer, and a multi-class and jurisdiction claims specialist, with extensive technical, operational and performance management expertise across London Market, Lloyd’s & MGA businesses. As Optio Group’s Claims Director, Nick is responsible for the performance of its claims team and the delivery of a high-quality claims service.

Nick represents Northcourt, and works closely with its clients, on various UK and international nuclear claims management committees as well as actively contributing towards effective risk management and regulatory processes and protocols. Given his dual legal and insurance claims management background, Nick has also been able to leverage his experience and know how on nuclear claims (from investigation through to resolution via negotiation, mediation, or litigation) to deliver optimal claims outcomes for Northcourt’s clients.