Former Aon UK CEO Peter Harmer has been appointed CEO of CGU, replacing Duncan West.

Parent company IAG says Mr Harmer will begin work at CGU on November 8, but will have an extended handover with Mr West, who has resigned to spend more time with his family. He will remain with the organisation until the end of January.

Mr Harmer resigned suddenly in June last year from Aon UK to return to Australia. He said at the time that progress in implementing the UK division’s restructuring “has allowed me to return home a little sooner than originally planned”.

An Aon source in Sydney told insuranceNEWS.com.au at the time that Mr Harmer would take up a “significant” role in Australia, but he later resigned.

Mr Harmer is 51 and ran Aon Australia from 2000-2007 before moving to the UK to turn around the giant broker’s struggling British operations.

In August he was tipped by a UK media source in August to be the successor to QBE Group CEO Frank O’Halloran – a report later denied by QBE.

His track record is impressive. One of his first challenges as CEO of Aon in the UK was to negotiate a 30% reduction in a multi-million pound fine from the financial regulator. In April 2007 he was appointed to the high-profile chairmanship of the Lloyd’s Market Reform Group.

When Mr Harmer quit last year to return to Australia, Aon Corporation President Greg Case acknowledged his “extraordinary leadership and efforts both in the UK and as a key player on the global Aon stage”.

IAG CEO Mike Wilkins says he is “disappointed to lose someone of Duncan West’s calibre”, but he understands his decision to want to spend more time with his family.

Mr West says the decision to leave CGU was difficult, but “after careful consideration I believe it’s the right one for my family. My wife and I have adopted two children from India and my priority is to care for and support them.

“Living in Sydney and leading a company based in Melbourne is simply not sustainable in these circumstances.”