Crawford Academy reached new heights in 2025 as our commitment to bolstering expertise helps employees achieve their career goals and future-proof the industry.
Our people are our most precious asset, and in a fast-changing sector facing a talent shortage, we know that our ability to provide up-to-date, accredited training and career development is more vital than ever.
That’s why the Crawford Academy, with its focus on professional and career development, is central to our business. 2025 was the Academy’s most impactful year yet. We delivered over 2,650 Academy hours, supporting well over 200 colleagues as well as dozens of client employees in the London market.
Crawford Academy has three established pillars: professional development, talent management, and coaching and mentoring. The aim is to enable employees to progress into senior roles they are ready for, equipped with relevant, accredited qualifications and supported by people who have walked the path before them.
This is especially important for employees wanting to grow into roles in more complex claims areas. With an eye on the horizon, these people are a particular focus for the Academy team.
2025 saw the Crawford Academy deliver multiple training events. These included the Crawford Europe and Middle East (EME) Global Technical Services (GTS) Academy conference in May, at which we welcomed Middle East and European colleagues to the new Lloyd’s training room at our London office for a day and half of professional development.
June brought our new talent development conference, hosting our Major and Complex Loss colleagues at the historic Kilworth House in Leicestershire, where several of our top clients discussed their claims philosophy and our Sustainability team addressed sustainability in the claims process, ESG and more.
Delegates also heard from John Bissell from the Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters (CILA), Matt Simmons from the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII), and our own in-house experts including Academy director Graham Cranford Smith on effective communication and the benefits of clear language in loss adjuster reports.
Technical training makes up a large proportion Crawford Academy’s work, and is delivered in Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham, London and Belfast. Led by industry experts and covering topics such as business interruption, legal liability, renewable energy, and the principles of reserve management, these sessions exemplify our commitment to providing high quality, accredited training.
As well as supporting employees seeking professional qualifications, including the CII and CILA certifications, our program itself has official CPD (Continuing Professional Development) accreditation from the CII.
Our London market training sessions have had outstanding support from our clients and take place monthly. Sessions this year have included fast-evolving subjects such as renewable energy and flood resilience.
We’ve also launched client off-site training, including building construction and pathology days at the National Self Build and Renovation Centre in Swindon and ‘hands-on’ sessions on fire and escape of water investigations, hosted by Hawkins at their office in London, where they have a lab for the disassembly of electronic components during forensic investigations.
Guided tours of Lloyd’s are a popular element of some of our London training events, as is our partnership with the Insurance Museum, which includes walks around the city of London led by Museum director Howard Benge, tracing the birth of the industry.
Connectivity is at the heart of the Academy’s work, from our Academy SharePoint site, which is the place to go for news and training events, to our Emerging Talent Network, which connects colleagues through fun and engaging activities, with more to come in 2026.
The Academy’s progress reflects the hard work of a small but dedicated team, which gained a new member this year. Our ongoing strategic partnerships with CILA, CII, the Insurance Museum and Lloyd’s, and of course our continued work with clients, are essential to Crawford Academy’s success. We look forward to developing its work further over the coming months, with a target of delivering 3,000 Academy hours in 2026.
