But given that he had worked in claims during his time at Churchill — and that other loss adjusting groups, namely Merlin with Richard Webster and Teceris with Jonathan Vickers have also looked outside the sector when making their own recent senior appointments — his move has not happened in isolation.
However, Davies was not the first company to try and entice Mr Crawford from RBS, where he was most recently managing director of the partnership and international business. So what made this latest call so attractive?
"One of the most telling things is that I realised I had been commuting to Bromley - 10 years with Churchill and six with RBS - and while some opportunities had presented themselves, there had never been the right push from RBS or a lure from the other job," he says.
"With Davies, things were different because it was a CEO role. It was the opportunity to run my own business. Those opportunities are quite rare these days because a lot of businesses run in matrix structures, where you are part of an overall management team."
Asked if he believes he was deliberately targeted by Davies because its private equity owner - Lloyds Development Capital - was not convinced by the management potential within the loss adjusting sector, Mr Crawford is diplomatic in his response. "I don't think it is something that is particular to loss adjusters. If you look at insurance companies, a lot are run by accountants and bankers. So I don't think it is peculiar for a sector to look at people not in its direct catchment," he says.
"I can only comment on Davies, but the reason the management wanted someone from outside the sector was that they wanted a candidate with broad experience of managing people within a changing and evolving business, which was a skills set that I had."
PE investment
As to the new parent - LDC took over following a £27m management buyout in March 2008 - he describes the fact that Davies is now owned by a PE firm, a "twist" to his role, but adds that it brings the same pressures to bear as any other owner would.
"They are shareholders and most shareholders are demanding, as they want to get the most out of an investment. But the reality is that if you want to maximise your return, you need to have a sustainable business, which means you need one that is growing, that has happy people, that is winning business and has a real spring in its step. So I don't think they will demand any more than plc shareholders - both are challenging."
Mr Crawford admits he was not aware of the trend for private equity groups to look at loss adjusters as investments - as has happened with a number of major players over the last three years - until he joined.
"But it does not surprise me, as there are a number of forces at play here," he remarks. "I don't look at Davies and think of it as a loss adjuster. We think of ourselves as a provider of claims solutions, while others see themselves as either the same or evolving that way."
LDC is one of the major PE players in this space, having picked up a number of other claims-related businesses in recent years, including Evander, Ansa and Independent Inspections. This has led to some putting one and one together and getting three, believing that these deals are part of a wider play to consolidate the firms as a one-stop-shop for insurance companies' claims and outsourcing needs.
Consolidation rumours
However, Mr Crawford scoffs at this suggestion: "It is highly unlikely that the individual businesses will consolidate, because you have step back and understand what an organisation like LDC is doing — and that is making investments in businesses. It wants to see them grow and mature, so that it can realise its investment.
"LDC has identified that the claims services space is an interesting one and where it makes sense for us to work together - with its other investments - we will do. I don't see investing in us as part of a masterplan to bring us together."
Mr Crawford has been at Davies since July and he is enthused about its employees' commitment and pride in technical claims handling. "Loss adjusters - and that is the sector, not just Davies - could teach insurers a thing or two about the technical handling of claims. We have real specialists here," he comments.
Of course, this talk of technical excellence is all very well, but having come from an insurer, Mr Crawford is very aware of the procurement process that service providers have to go through, and that every claims director will have a budget.
"Claims directors realise the need to strike a balance between the amount of money they are willing to pay to a loss adjuster - or anyone else who provides services to them - so that they get the best deal possible. But at the same time, they must also make sure they pay a service provider enough to allow that organisation to invest in its IT, infrastructure and people," responds Mr Crawford.
"And I don't think there is a claims director who does not recognise the need to do that. The real challenge comes with procurement teams, because it is their jobs to push on price."
Mr Crawford believes that regular reviews of suppliers are important to stop either side becoming complacent. But he asserts that a three-year trading relationship should be the absolute minimum, adding: "Ideally, I would like five-year terms, because it allows you to work together and to understand each other's culture and philosophy."
Despite the competitive nature of the loss adjusting market, Mr Crawford is confident that there are opportunities in this sector, which can be explored before Davies seeks to diversify into new areas.
"If you look at our strength, it is in domestic property loss adjusting. We are also in the commercial space, but that is the business' heart. But if you look at the top 10-15 UK insurers, we have a relationship with some, but not all, of them, so there are still lots of new clients we could work with. We don't have a relationship with Axa, Aviva, RSA or Groupama to name but a few.
"There are also existing clients with whom we could strengthen our relationships, and find a range of more innovative services. For instance, I would like us to be stronger in major loss and liability. We have not yet exhausted the space we are in."
He also believes that Davies could focus on getting stronger in the broker sector, and when asked where other potential opportunities could lie, he comments that non-insurer customers, such as housing associations, or retail networks, such as shops or pubs outlets, could be among its targets.
"But there is a danger as an individual or a company in running before you walk, and there is a lot more we can do with insurers and brokers before we stretch out into those other spaces," he adds.
Before Mr Crawford arrived at Davies, the business underwent significant changes, including a £1m investment in IT and a reduction in its headcount and branch network.
"There is a trade-off between having people on the ground who can respond to events when they happen and what I call road miles, which is how far the guy is having to drive to visit a claim that has to be struck," Mr Crawford comments.
"And looking back at what [deputy chairman] Mark Chapman and the guys did before I joined, they did the right thing by closing offices and transferring the work to others.
"The network we have today is optimum and we have offices where our customers are. So it might seem strange that we have one in Liskeard, Cornwall, but we have some strong farming connections there and we need to be represented.
"I am happy with the network and I have no plans to rationalise the number further."
That is not to say Mr Crawford is not seeking his own structural changes, having now had his feet under the desk for five months. "When I arrived, I looked to see if there were any areas that could be strengthened, starting with the structure. It is absolutely critical that everyone knows who they report to and what their role is within the organisation.
"But, what became apparent when I joined was that we needed someone to lead our loss adjusting delivery area. We have [desktop claims handling business] Davies Managed Systems managed by Vanessa Greatbatch, and our fulfilment and contractor business managed by Martin Bishop, but there was nobody who was leading the loss adjusting business on a permanent basis."
This role will be known as director of claims operations, and Mr Crawford notes that Davies is in the final stages of appointing someone, with an announcement due any day.
Working Together
Of course, as a newcomer to Davies and loss adjusting, one relationship that will be watched with some interest is the interaction between Mr Crawford and the person he effectively succeeded, Mr Chapman, who was previously managing director of the group. Mr Crawford, for one, is very happy how things are panning out: "The working relationship with Mark is excellent. We both work out of the same office in Brentford and we probably talk every day.
"Mark understands loss adjusting - he is a loss adjuster. He knows the business, the staff and customers well, so his role moving forward is to work with existing and new clients to make sure Davies understands their needs better.
"He is the interface between the organisation and them. It leaves me time to work on other areas. I am sure both of us were nervous before I joined about how the interplay would work out, but it has worked really well as we have different strengths and are very clear where we operate."
Of course, the final big question remains how far Mr Crawford believes he can take Davies? "You can't avoid it that there are two organisations in size terms [Cunningham and Crawford] that dominate the market, then there is a group of other firms like ourselves, Merlin, GAB Robins, Garwyn and others that fill the space below," he responds.
"The starting point I come from is that I have not met a claims director yet who does not like healthy competition. It brings new ideas and innovations among suppliers, so there is definitely room for other providers. Where would I like Davies to be? I would like it to be seen as the clear and credible alternative to the big two, with a range of services that get us on the tender list."
This article is reproduced from Post Magazine Claims Supplement 26th November 2009