Anne Bardsley: From Saturday filing clerk to south west growth leader

Anne Bardsley, who grew up in the Cotswolds with a Saturday filing job at a family-run insurance broker, has returned to the UK broking market with a regional mission. In January 2026, she joined Verlingue as corporate director for the south west, tasked with building the broker’s presence in an area she says has a gap in coverage. Her path included commercial broking, leading a nine-person team, and a 15-year career in Bristol that continued under Brown and Brown. In 2024 she moved client-side to Fortescue Zero as head of risk and insurance, working on decarbonisation projects, before choosing Verlingue after a “bucket list” search for values and structure.