Simplyhealth has appointed Sonya Bryson as managing director, subject to regulatory approval.
Bryson (pictured) will join the business on Wednesday (19 August), bringing with her more than 25 years of leadership experience across the insurance sector.
At the start of the year, Simplyhealth revealed it would be creating two managing director roles to lead its Healthplan and Denplan businesses following chief customer officer (CCO) Claudia’s Nicholls-Magielsen’s departure.
Nicholls-Magielsen left Simplyhealth at the end of last year after three years in the position and subsequently joined Cancer Research as director of marketing, fundraising and engagement in March.
Last week, the group revealed Nick Tait had been appointed as MD of Denplan. Bryson will now lead the Healthplan business.
She joins with extensive experience of leading large, regulated businesses and delivering transformational change.
During her career, she has held multiple managing director roles with full profit and loss accountability, successfully driving growth, improving profitability, and leading complex operational and organisational transformation programmes.
Most recently, Bryson was managing director at RSA Insurance, where she led a £1.5bn commercial business. Prior to this, she held senior leadership roles at Direct Line and NIG.
Paul Schreier, CEO at The Simplyhealth Group, said: “We are delighted to welcome Sonya to Simplyhealth. She brings a wealth of experience leading complex, regulated businesses, alongside a strong track record of delivering growth, transformation and customer-focused innovation.
“As we continue to evolve Simplyhealth and strengthen the value we provide to customers and partners, Sonya’s leadership will be instrumental in helping us deliver our long-term ambitions.”
Bryson added: “I’m very excited to be joining The Simplyhealth Group at such an important point in its journey.
“The ambition to improve access to healthcare and the opportunity to shape the future of Simplyhealth is incredibly compelling.
“I’m looking forward to working with the team to build on the strong foundations in place and deliver meaningful outcomes for our customers and partners.”