Willis Group Holdings, the global insurance broker, has appointed Daniel Wilkinson as CEO and Brendan McCafferty as president of Willis United Kingdom & Ireland (WUKI), effective immediately.

In his new role, Wilkinson will be responsible for extensive on-the-ground client-facing experience which he gained while running Willis’ Cardiff and Birmingham branches and the Corporate Division of the UK.

Wilkinson, who has been with Willis for 16 years and is the longest-serving member of the WUKI executive team, will lead 1,100 associates in 22 offices across the UK.

McCafferty, currently managing director of WUKI’s Commercial and Network businesses, will take on the newly created role of president of the division.

He has been at Willis for over three years and was initially responsible for the creation of Willis Underwriting Programmes prior to leading the Commercial business unit.

WUKI has been led, on an interim basis, by Willis Group president Grahame Millwater. Willis’ Ireland operation, under CEO Brian Curtis, will remain part of WUKI and will report into Millwater.

Through its subsidiaries, Willis develops and delivers professional insurance, reinsurance, risk management, financial and human resource consulting and actuarial services to corporations, public entities and institutions around the world.