Royal appointment for ex-Ferranti head

ROYAL Insurance has appointed former Ferranti lawyer Robert Dunkley to head its in-house team.

Dunkley will be based in the company's Liverpool office from where he will also oversee the Royal's London lawyers.

Former Royal legal head Graham Jones has joined Norwich Union and the insurers have recruited Allen & Overy's Nick Gibbon on secondment during the interregnum.

Gibbon, a member of A&O's insurance practice group, says it is becoming increasingly common for City lawyers to work on secondment as part of the service offered to clients. John Rink, A&O's managing partner, has recently completed a review of legal services following a secondment to British Aerospace.

Dunkley joins the Royal from Wilmslow-based conglomerate Whitecroft where he moved after Ferranti went into receivership at the end of 1993.

He had worked for Ferranti for 13 years and had been in charge of the company's five-strong team of lawyers for about seven years.