City of London, England, United Kingdom, December 2025 — Lynne MacLeod has been appointed as Chief People & Culture Officer at Torch Underwriting, marking a significant leadership milestone as the organization continues to build a people-first, technology-enabled underwriting culture.
In her new role, Lynne MacLeod will lead Torch Underwriting’s global people and culture agenda, with a strong focus on embedding empathy-driven leadership, trust-based performance, and inclusive workplace practices. Her appointment reinforces Torch’s philosophy that culture and people are foundational pillars in enabling underwriting excellence and sustainable growth.
Prior to joining Torch Underwriting, Lynne MacLeod served for over six years as Head of Human Resources at Castel Underwriting Agencies Limited, where she led HR strategy across training and development, compensation and benefits, and organizational capability building. Her work played a key role in strengthening leadership effectiveness and workforce engagement within a specialist underwriting environment.
Earlier, she spent nearly a decade with Barbican Insurance Group as Head of Human Resources, where she was instrumental in shaping long-term people strategy, talent development frameworks, and reward structures during periods of business evolution. Her experience also includes HR leadership roles at Endurance and JLT Insurance Group Holdings Limited, providing her with deep exposure to complex, regulated insurance environments.
Throughout her career, Lynne MacLeod has been recognized for her belief that empathy is a strategic strength in leadership — fostering cultures where people feel heard, trusted, and empowered to perform at their best. Her people-centric philosophy aligns closely with Torch Underwriting’s ambition to create an environment where exceptional underwriting talent can thrive.
About Torch Underwriting
Torch Underwriting is a modern, tech-led, talent-first Managing General Agent (MGA) built to empower exceptional underwriters. The company combines underwriting craft with AI-native systems that enhance clarity, speed, and discipline in decision-making. Through its proprietary underwriting engine and TorchLens business intelligence framework, Torch enables real-time portfolio insight and exposure intelligence, creating an environment where culture, capital, and capability remain closely aligned.
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