EDII is taking its Digital Minds Embed insurance innovation programme outside London for the first time, launching a Northern cohort in Leeds in partnership with Markel.
The first Digital Minds Embed North cohort will begin in October 2026, with sessions hosted at Markel’s new City Square House office in Leeds. The programme will be open to delegates from brokers, insurers, managing general agents, and insurance-adjacent organisations across the region.
Digital Minds Embed is a nine-month, Chartered Insurance Institute CPD-accredited programme designed to help insurance professionals build the skills, mindsets, and behaviours needed to lead innovation and deliver change. EDII said 11 cohorts had already been delivered in London.
The programme uses in-person sessions with a cross-industry mix of insurers, brokers, and MGAs, supported by virtual sessions across the nine months. Participants develop what EDII calls the Digital Mindset, built around seven capabilities: Collaborative & Connected, Empathetic & Human-Centred, Critical Thinkers, Commercially Curious, Digitally Engaged, Outside-In Aware, and Comfortable with Uncertainty.
Caroline Bedford, CEO of EDII, said: “Taking Digital Minds Embed beyond London is something we’ve known insurance needs for some time. The innovation capability gap isn’t a London problem – it’s an industry-wide one. Digital Minds Embed alumni are already leading change across the market, and we want that impact felt in every part of the UK. The pace of change in insurance isn’t slowing, and the organisations that invest now in their people’s ability to lead it will be the ones that define what this industry looks like next.”
The Leeds launch comes while insurance companies are modernising distribution, underwriting, claims handling, customer service, data use, and technology governance. Artificial intelligence, digital claims tools, embedded insurance, cyber risk, pricing sophistication, and changing broker expectations are forcing capability development beyond specialist technology teams.
Insurance transformation has often been concentrated around the London market, although regional insurance centres remain commercially important. Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Cardiff, and other centres support brokers, insurers, specialist underwriting, claims, legal services, and professional advice. Structured innovation training outside London better reflects the geography of the sector.
Markel has been a longstanding supporter of the Digital Minds programme. The company is hosting the first Northern cohort and has seen several of its own employees complete the course.
Simon Johnston, UK marketing director at Markel, said: “We’re proud to be partnering with EDII to bring this programme outside London for the first time. Having seen its value first-hand, with several of our own people completing the course, we know the impact it can have. It offers a structured, practical way to build confidence in innovation and turn ideas into action and reflects why supporting initiatives like this matters. Talent and ambition exist well beyond London and access to high-quality development opportunities should too. Hosting in our Leeds office feels particularly fitting, creating a space for collaboration, fresh thinking and stronger connections across the market.”
The launch builds on EDII’s wider network of partnerships, including collaboration with the Chartered Insurance Institute and engagement with global technology partner CGI. The Digital Minds Embed North cohort will be capped to protect the quality of learning and peer collaboration.
The skills issue has become more urgent as insurance transformation advances from pilot projects into operational change. Many businesses can identify digital opportunities, but struggle to build cross-functional confidence, challenge legacy processes, and turn ideas into commercially useful improvements. Innovation capability now depends less on isolated labs and more on whether underwriters, claims teams, brokers, operations leaders, and people teams can work through practical problems together.
The programme’s expansion also reflects a broader talent question. If high-quality development remains concentrated in London, regional markets risk relying too heavily on central transformation teams. Giving professionals outside the capital structured access to innovation education could strengthen regional insurance ecosystems and improve adoption across the market.
Digital skills in insurance are also being shaped by customer expectations. Policyholders expect faster claims handling, clearer communication, and more responsive service, while commercial clients want sharper risk advice and better use of data. Those expectations require people who understand technology, but also understand underwriting discipline, conduct, regulatory expectations, and market relationships.
The first Northern cohort will be judged by the change it produces inside participating organisations. Insurance companies are under pressure to improve customer outcomes, use data responsibly, manage risk more dynamically, and modernise operations without weakening trust. Programmes that combine technical awareness with commercial judgement are likely to carry greater value than training that treats innovation as a narrow technology exercise.
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