Brit Insurance may be a big player on the Lloyd’s insurance market, but it is probably best known generally as sponsor of the Oval cricket ground, where the corporate name is prominently displayed.

The sponsorship deal was signed initially by Neil Eckert, the former chief executive, but it was enthusiastically re-endorsed by his successor Dane Douetil. Mr Douetil, 47, lists fly fishing as his main hobby, but occasional visits to the corporate box at the Oval are an inevitable perk of the job.

Indeed, he has been known to point out the similarities between England’s occasionally renascent cricket team and his own firm. Both are young and both are seen as innovative. Mr Douetil claims that Brit is one of the first at Lloyd’s to recognise the importance of long-term capital as a foundation for the business.

He was educated at Birmingham University, leaving with an honours degree in commerce to join Willis Faber, one of the most venerable firms in the market, as a political risk broker in 1982.

Yet he claims to have been unwilling initially to enter the business, despite his family background. His father was a Lloyd’s broker and his grandfather famously refused to insure the Titanic.

Political risk – kidnapping and ransoms cover – is one of the racier bits of insurance, certainly more so than more traditional underwriting. When he set up a brokerage, Special Risk Services, in 1989, it was still an emerging area.

He moved into consultancy in 1994, in which capacity he was brought in to advise on the formation of Brit, whose board he joined in 1999. He took over as chief executive in 2005.

His time there covered natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, whose devastating effect he was one of the first people in the market to spot. Brit has set aside £62.5 million for potential claims from sub-prime lending, a provision that he wrote off as “business as usual”.

He has expressed concern before about London’s ability to survive and compete against the Bermudian insurance industry, with its light regulation and zero corporation tax. Married, with three daughters, he has said that the businessman he most admires is Warren Buffett. Last year he was appointed CBE for services to business.

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