Managing director, Compre Administrators Limited and deputy chairman of the Association of Run Off Companies Ltd.

Peter has very definite views on the Beatles, ideal jobs - and not delivering good customer service.

Where were you brought up?
North London.

What was your childhood ambition?
I'm not sure I can recall a strong childhood ambition, but as a young man I knew I wanted to do either insurance or the law and to work in the City. On the law side I did have one interview with a firm of solicitors back in 1968 and I'm still waiting to hear from them!

What is your favourite film?
The first Star Wars film. I saw it at the cinema with a colleague (now a Lloyd's underwriter) when it first came out in 1977 and was simply amazed.

What is the best advice you have been given?
That the few things in life one lives to regret are things we don't do rather than those we do. The message is thus to “give it a go” as we can always recover from our mistakes and we would not want to reach old age wondering “what if…”

What would your ideal job be?
I don't think there really is such a thing as an ideal job as people evolve and their needs and expectations change. I have been fortunate in enjoying a very varied career in insurance and in working with some wonderful (and, admittedly, less than wonderful) people, so I think the nearest answer I can give is to say that any job which makes you keen to get up in the morning and where you can work with great people is an ideal job. That apart, I've always rather fancied myself as a professional sportsman although beyond a reasonable level of competence I have been hampered here by a basic lack of talent.

What really annoys you?
In my personal life I am annoyed by the general lack of courtesy and respect within today's society, while in a business context I think that too many companies tend to regard their customers as their unpaid quality control and simply don't deliver what they promise or do so without any pride in the quality of their product.

What advice would you offer someone starting out in the industry?
That our business is dynamic and needs working at and not to take our market pre-eminence for granted. Our industry needs bright people with good ideas to constantly move us forward so we do not repeat history and follow other sectors of our economy into oblivion. There is always room for new ideas, so don't be afraid to challenge and always try to see what's over the next hill.

Beatles or Rolling Stones?
Beatles, definitely.

Who would you like to be stuck in a lift with?
For entirely selfish reasons I think Stephen Haddrill, director general of the ABI. In my role as deputy chairman of the Association of Run Off Companies I would like time to say to him that London has developed specific skills in run-off that give us a unique advantage in being able to offer “cradle to grave” insurance solutions far ahead of any other global market. However this is of no value if the insurance establishment consistently fails to recognise run-off as an integral part of the insurance lifecycle and thus fails to capitalise on this advantage. Run-off is, and will increasingly be, a feature of managing portfolios of insurance and reinsurance and we ignore this fact to the peril of our entire industry.

What was the first album you ever bought?
The Beatles: Please Please Me.