Willis has created two new senior positions to further its growth strategy in Australia and New Zealand.

Roger Wilkinson will move to Sydney from Hong Kong in October as Executive Chairman of Willis Australasia, while Tony Barber is rejoining Willis Australia as Deputy CEO, based in Melbourne.

Mr Wilkinson, a New Zealander, is currently Chairman and CEO of Willis Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa. He had a long career with Marsh before joining Willis in 2005.

He says he will be looking at local acquisitions “that are a good fit to our culture and business strategy”.

“We feel that Willis has enormous potential in this part of the world and we are investing accordingly.”

Mr Barber will return to the company in January. He worked 11 years at Willis before joining Aon three years ago, where his roles included divisional manager – energy, and client director in the global team.

CEO Pieter Lindhout says Mr Barber will be responsible as deputy CEO for accelerating the company’s growth strategy.