Meet the team

Keith Dickenson

Keith Dickinson

Director

A UCL Geography graduate and Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute, Keith has operated in the veterinary sector since 1981. He has supported the veterinary profession avidly during that time with financial and professional initiatives. He prides himself on still having his finger on the pulse of the profession. Having written and self published a number of books, in true entrepreneurial style he started Astoria Publishing Ltd and has successfully published a number of autobiographies for vets. In his spare time he is an avid reader, a keen cyclist and supporter of Aston Villa Football Club, with a significant collection of Aston Villa football programmes. He is married to Sarah and has two grown up daughters.

Dan Leyland

Dan Leyland

Operations Director

Dan joined Shire in 2010 as a new business executive. He has a long and established career in insurance, starting with personal lines insurance in 1996 and then commercial lines a few years later. He is CII qualified. The most satisfying part of his job is building relationships with clients and making absolutely sure that the products and services meet the needs of our clients.  Customer service is high on the agenda for Dan and he still enjoys meeting with clients face to face whenever he can. Dan is very family orientated.  He loves to watch football and regularly goes to see Aston Villa with his Dad or son and daughter. Foreign travel, especially cruises and regular trips to see films at the cinema are how he likes to relax.   

Graham Scott

Graham Scott

Funding Specialist

Graham joined Shire in 2016. Highly experienced with 40 Years in High Street Banking and the last 10 years exclusively in Healthcare with a national responsibility for the veterinary sector for Lloyds Bank.  He knew of Shire and Keith as they were always his number one source of new veterinary introductions. He has therefore turned from gamekeeper to poacher or vice versa, depending on how you look at things! Fully qualified and an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (ACIB), he passed his exams in the early 1980’s when it was vital to be fully qualified to advance within the banking sector. The qualification has always held him in good stead and he can still recite the definition of a Bill of Exchange! Grahams job satisfaction stems from finding finance through his many funding contactsand discussing options with clients that are looking to buy, re-finance,start up or join a practice. Meeting with people, even if this is only via the telephone or “teams” helps him to find fundingsolutions to enable clients to achieve their aims. The day when people complete on a purchase is always special and he takes pride in how he has helped, no matter how great or small his involvement. Outside of work he enjoys tending a large garden, which gives him great pleasure and spending time fishing, both of which allow him to relax and recharge his batteries. Married with two grown up children he enjoys walks with his dog Tilly and has had the pleasure with Mrs Scott of keeping guinea pigs, chickens and rare breed pigs, a particular favourite of his in the past. 

Tracey Cooper

Tracy Cooper

Commercial Account Handler

Tracy has spent her whole career working within the insurance sector, starting when she was 17 working for a local insurance broker. She joined Shire in 2011 and is CII qualified. Tracy is a very experienced account handler and has many clients whom she has looked after for several years. She enjoys the relationships she has built with her clients, dealing with their enquiries and ensuring their renewals are handled with care and attention to detail.  She enjoys meeting friends, meals out and reading.  She lives with her partner Steve, daughter Chloe and two guinea pigs, Cookie and Sparkles. 

Jayne Farren

Jayne Farren

Commercial Account Handler

Jayne joined Shire in 2017 having previously worked for an insurance broker dealing with global placements worldwide and prior to that 15 years for a personal lines broker. She started as an insurance clerk and then progressed to HR/Training/Recruitment.  She is CII qualified with NVQ level 3 qualifications in Insurance Intermediary and Customer Service. The main responsibilities of her job as an account handler include, support, advice and assistance, mid term adjustments and claims queries for a bank of clients she deals with. She loves helping a client sort out a problem and achieve an outcome that leaves her clients completely satisfied with the result. She enjoys working with the Shire team.  With four children, her partner and a cat called Daisy who sleeps at the top of the stairs and is a household hazard, she doesnt have much spare time, but she loves cooking and does enjoy hosting dinner parties and would love to be on Come Dine With Me. 

Michelle Sharpe

Michelle Sharpe

Claims Handler

Michelle joined Shire in 2011, having previously worked as an administrator for a third party claims company. She is CII qualified and has a degree in Psychology.  As our claims handler her job is to ensure that claims are dealt with efficiently by the insurer on behalf of our clients. Knowing that she is able to assist a client and that they are happy with the service she provides is the most satisfying part of Michelles job.  She enjoys walking her dog and dining out with her family 

Mike Henwood

Mike Henwood

Commercial Account Handler

Mike joined Shire in 2022. CII qualified and very experienced having worked in insurance for 8 years, Mike is a natural fit with our general team. He specialises in personal lines insurance having worked for two broking firms previously. The opportunity to advance in commercial insurance and to work closely with our veterinary and non-veterinary business customers was a significant factor in his decision to join us. He enjoys the day to day dealings with his clients, helping them to obtain the best terms at renewal, address their queries whilst learning about their businesses and find the right insurance cover that meets their requirements as they expand. A keen walker, Mike enjoys taking his dog Lily a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel with him on his travels and regularly attends gigs by alternative indie rock music bands.

Laura Price

Laura Price

Administrative Assistant

Since joining Shire in 2011, Laura has worked in both the general client support team and our health and wellbeing team in a similar role. Prior to this she worked for a finance broker and as an accounts assistant where she gained her FISA qualification. Laura has also achieved her CII qualification at Shire. Her experience of working within two departments at Shire has given her lots of commercial  and health insurance experience and knowledge. With this unique set of skills she is able to provide administration support and knowledge of our broker administration system across the company. She enjoys working on the broker administration system ensuring all runs smoothly and making sure the Shire team are supported with back office systems. Generating client data, reports and training colleagues are a few of the favourite aspects of her job. She enjoys keeping fit attending classes in Barre, Pilates and Zumba and socialising with friends and family. She has two young sons who keep her on her toes. 

Olivia Ling

Olivia Ling

Employee Benefits Administrator

Olivia joined our Health and Wellbeing team in 2021. A change of career has meant that the world of insurance is still relatively new, but she has risen to the challenge and has quickly learnt how to deal with client queries, renewals, quotations and making sure that she provides a first class customer experience. She particularly enjoys problem solving for clients and the satisfaction of knowing she has achieved the best outcome for them. She has recently bought her first house in Tamworth with her partner. She has a puppy called Toby a miniature dachshund who she enjoys walking and she loves to read and watch documentaries. 

Alina Brown

Alina Brown

Health & Wellbeing Administrator

Alina was born in Ukraine she moved to the UK in 2019. Her work as a software configuration engineer for an IT company, handling telecommunication products from the USA was a challenging role. Looking for a change of direction with her career a role within the Health and Wellbeing team at Shire proved to good an opportunity to overlook. Her IT skills mean that she quickly transitioned from telecommunications sales to private medical and employee benefits insurance. With a young son Maxmillian, the ability to work at our offices in Tamworth or from home, allows her to meet the family’s childcare needs whilst providing a first class customer service for our clients. She values this flexible working a great deal. In her spare time she loves going to the gym and getting out and about with her family. Visiting the swimming pool with her son is a favourite pastime. 

Matthew Wilkinson

Matthew Wilkinson

Head of Finance and Communications

Matt joined Shire in 2014. Prior to joining us he worked in retail. A change of career has meant that Matt has continued to learn and has achieved his AAT level 2 and 3 and is currently working towards level 4 of his professional qualifications.  Matts responsibilities include ensuring accounts with insurers and suppliers are up to date, client payments are dealt with and dealing with any finance/account queries that arise. The most satisfying part of his job is getting to the bottom of a complex accounts query.  Outside of work Matt spends as much time as possible outdoors with his wife and son on mountain bikes, paddle boarding and walking. A keen (and award winningif a couple of country show home-brew competitions count) home brewer and craft beer lover. He has three cats, two of which are strays which decided to move in whether he liked it or not. 

Sarah Dickenson

Sarah Dickinson

Marketing

Sarah joined Shire in 2021. Previously she worked as a Financial Advisor for Dickinsons Ltd gaining her Financial Planning Certificate in the 1990’s. She has always had a keen interest in personal insurance and kept her eye on the developments within the veterinary profession over the past 20 years. Following marriage to Keith and raising their two daughters she decided that her growing interest and passion for marketing, which started with her work as a social media volunteer for Cats Protection, could be channelled into marketing the services and products available from Shire Insurance. Given the opportunity for a change of career she decided to return to college and is currently studying the Digital Marketing Diploma with the CIM. In her spare time she likes to volunteer as a cat care assistant at her local CP Adoption Centre, enjoys keeping fit by jogging, swimming and yoga and looking after the family’s x6 pets.

Want to get in touch? We’d love to hear from you. Here’s how you can reach us.

Address

Shire Insurance Services Limited,

1 Calico Business Park,

Sandy Way, Amington,

Tamworth, Staffordshire.

B77 4BF

Telephone

01827 306 532

Email

info@shireinsurance.co.uk