Remarkable milestone for Kenneth
82 years in insurance world
LOUGHBOROUGH man Kenneth Cotterill has celebrated his centenary - and 82 years as a member of his professional organisation, the Chartered Insurance Institute.
Christopher Macleod, president of the Insurance Institute of Leicester, arranged for a special certificate to mark the occasion. He and fellow council members Mal Fairhurst and Keith Torrance visited Ken to present the certificate.
Ken joined the Liverpool & London & Globe Insurance Company (now part of RSA Group) in September 1936 at Albert Square, Manchester. After war service, he completed his professional qualification becoming an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute. After a spell in Burnley, Ken moved to Loughborough in 1958, first as an inspector, later becoming the manager of the local office. In those days, his office was in the market place, about opposite the Town Hall. He retired in 1980.
As Ken says, it wasn’t a surprise that he ended up in Loughborough. His House at Stretford Grammar School was Charnwood and Ken later discovered that his old headmaster, Albert Dakin, was bur- ied at Shepshed.
Ken has always played an active part in the community. He was President of Loughborough Rotary. An active member of Loughborough Baptist Church, he was until just recently their postman, despatching the church magazine to subscribers. Ken was happily married; his home was named Frenchay after the suburb of Bristol where he met his future wife during World War Two.
He continued to live independently until just a few months ago when a fall persuaded him to move into Thorpe House on Knightthorpe Road.
Reminiscing about his early days in insurance, Ken recalled that first manager was a bully – not unusual in those days. Fortunately, his manager at Leicester had a broader philosophy: “If the wife is happy, you’ll be happy. If you are happy you’ll be successful. If you are successful, I (your manager) will be successful.”
By happy coincidence, Insurance President Christopher Macleod is a Trading Underwriter with RSA, the successor to Ken’s company, and lives locally at Mountsorrel. Chris said: “Reaching three score and 40 years is an amazing achievement and I’m delighted, on behalf of the Insurance Institute of Leicester, to celebrate the event with Ken.”