Overheard was Intrigued to hear

Overheard was intrigued to hear that Chris Blackham once had a brief foray into life beyond insurance. Having made a start as a broker in Covent Garden, Blackham decided to write a guidebook on the area. The guide was so successful Michelob sponsored it and Blackham even ended up arranging events for it. But sure enough, he found his way back into insurance ...

Overheard is concerned that Tim Johnson, new chief executive officer of Towergate, is not getting quite enough time off. Having arrived late for lunch from a meeting, Johnson had to rush through coffee to get to his next appointment. He forwent the usual holiday between jobs and on 11 December had yet to book any time off for Christmas. Worse still, Johnson was celebrating his birthday on 12 December with a meeting, office move and work Christmas party.

Congratulations to Eric Galbraith, chief executive at the British Insurance Brokers' Association, and PB's first cover boy. Galbraith proved himself considerably keener to pose for his pictures than most insurance types, to the point of enthusiastically sprawling across the boardroom table.

The insurance industry doesn't yet have an artfully posed, semi-clothed charity calender but if anyone wants to do it, Overheard recommends contacting the eminent Scot.

Finally, Aon's The Lord of the Rings press party went with a swing, particularly given Dennis Mahoney's joke. Overheard can't repeat said joke but it connected the Tolkein theme with the Prince Charles crisis then unfolding ...